ALL NOVEL Tribunal
Guild Tribunals
All normal investigations into violations of Guild policy are up to the Guild Master of that ship. In all cases, the findings of the Ship’s Guild Master are final. However, in the case that a Guild Master is suspected of violating Guild policy, a Guild Tribunal must be formed. A Tribunal consists of three Guild Masters in good standing with the guild. The ruling of the Tribunal is final.
Excerpted With Permission
Data Trader’s Handbook
Copyright 3250, Interstellar Data Trader Guild
The star didn’t even have a name.
Guild tribunals like this one were rare, but not so uncommon there wasn’t a standard procedure. Because the trial was going to involve the status of the ship and therefore Leo as the Guild Master of the Theo, three data arks needed convene, which was extremely rare. When the Theo passed out of FTL, it was clear that they were expected.
“Three DA’s in system already. They’ve been here a while; we are getting old comms backchatter that’s at least a couple days old.” Ramona looked up from her console. “Do we release interlocks?”
Ollu walked over from the captain’s chair. They had agreed that the three of them, plus Craig would work from the bridge until they figured out if the ship was in any danger. “No way. Who knows what back doors are in the system.”
Leo was about to object, but then realized it was very possible. All Trader vessels used basically the same software to run the ships. Why not add code that allowed masters to take over or remotely monitor a ship? It made sense. “Yeah, let’s keep them closed for now. Can we open a comms channel safely?”
Ollu nodded. “Yes, I’ll port it to the conference room down the hall there, but keep it isolated from all the ship’s systems.”
“Ramona, any sign they have set an ambush?”
Ramona worked at her console. “Hard to say with these sensors, they could have a dozen ships just sitting dark out there and we wouldn’t know.” She continued to work. “I think that it’s unlikely. Based on what we see here, it’s the three data arks. Likely that they have one or more armed cutters ready to go.”
Leo looked at Ollu and Craig. They both shrugged. “OK, take us in Ollu. Ramona, be ready for anything.”
The Theo began to slow relative to the star, matching the position and motion of the three existing data arks. It was easy to think of the three ships as motionless, they were powered down and their engines were not operating. However, everything in space is moving relative to everything else. They were actually in a relatively stable orbit around the white dwarf sun, but well away from the various random rocks in orbit. They had obviously picked their position to allow navigational safety and for little other reason. In a virtually empty star system like this one, any orbit was as good as another.
Once they approached to under a Giga Meter, latency was down to 3 seconds, making communications possible, if a bit annoying. “They’re asking for a four way vid link.”
“OK, let’s close the distance down to 100 KM and hold it there. Craig, you’re with me, Ramona ping me if they do anything sketchy.” As agreed, Leo and Craig proceeded to the conference room while Ramona and Ollu stayed on the bridge. They’d be able to monitor the conversation there, but the plan was that Leo and Craig would represent the ship.
At 100 KM, the light propagation delay was below a millisecond and thus normal conversations were possible. Once the video bridge came up, Leo saw that the Reggie was represented by Thorsten as expected along with Gunny, which while not technically protocol was also expected. Leo didn’t know the two other master traders representing the other ships. Since this was a formal hearing, three Guild Masters were required to form a tribunal.
Thorsten spoke first. “Craig, are you representing the Theo as her master trader? It’s good to see you. It’s been quite a while.”
Craig smiled. “Hello Roger. You still buggering small boys for fun?”
Leo slapped the mute button. “Jesus Craig, what the fuck?”
Craig patted his arm. “Kid, Roger is going to try and fuck you over no matter what. Better to keep him angry and off balance.” He unmuted the channel to hear the end of an indignant comment from Thorsten. “And Gunny. Still play acting the soldier, eh?”
Gunny just laughed. “Always nice to hear from you Craig. I figured you would have been killed by a jealous husband by now.”
The second Master Trader tapped the table in front of him. “Gentlemen, this is a formal tribunal. We will conduct this affair with decorum. I am Master Trader Williams and this is Master Trader Lacey. Master Trader Linton, I assume you will be representing the Theo in this matter?”
“No, master trader.” Craig just pointed to Leo.
“Master Trader Williams, I am the Guild Master for the Theo and part owner. Ollu Channah and I formed ship’s company after she claimed right of salvage.”
Thorsten was becoming more and more agitated. “This is ridiculous! We can’t take this little prick seriously! They don’t even have a valid ship’s company. This entire thing is a joke!”
Williams was not pleased at the outburst. “Sir, if you cannot comply with the rules of the tribunal, I will ask you to recuse yourself and we will reconvene with another master who can.” Thorsten calmed himself with visible effort. “Now, as to the status of the Theo. I have reviewed the logs provided and I am prepared to rule on the current status of the Theo. Master Lacy?”
The third master, Lacey looked bored, almost asleep. “Yeah, right. Fine by me.”
“Very well, it is clear that the Theo was formed within the letter of the Guild bylaws if not exactly in the spirit. She is clearly a guild qualified vessel and both young Timur here and Ms. Channah are guild qualified according to the Reggie’s records. At the time of salvage, Ms. Channah was in fact not employed by the Guild and thus Spacer’s Guild law applies to her. I vote nay on measure one of the claim.”
Thorsten was turning purple. “I vote aye.”
Lacey appeared to be using a tablet just off screen. “Oh, uh. Nay.”
“The nays have it then. As per guild charter, the Theo is a guild vessel and Leo Timur is her master trader. It is so ordered.”
Williams looked down and consulted some notes. “It appears that you have been trading in banned content, Master Timur.”
Leo just stared directly into the camera. “We have not. I would ask any supporting documentation to be produced.”
Williams picked up a tablet, consulting notes again. “I believe the simplest way to solve this is to examine the trading records of the Theo. However, it seems that your ship has disabled data sync with the three arks already in system. That is most unusual. Most unusual.”
Leo was prepared for this objection and had discussed it many times with the others on how to proceed. “Master Trader, the last time we interacted with the Reggie, Master Trader Tomlin attempted to interfere with the operation of our vessel in direct violation of Guild law. We felt it prudent to protect ourselves against further violation of guild law. You are welcome to come aboard the Theo and investigate our logs at your leisure.”
Thorsten could not contain his anger any longer. “This is absurd. We know that this vessel contained banned IP and thus the entire vessel should also be banned and the IP destroyed.”
Williams looked pleased at Thorsten’s more restrained objection. “Master Timur? This is a very serious charge, sir.”
Leo just shook his head. “Yes, we currently have banned content in our IP database.”
Thorsten pounded the table with a fist. “He admits it!”
Leo continued to shake his head. “As does your ship, Master Thorsten, and yours Master Williams. We of course have a banned section of our database and we of course review it regularly. Banned content is removed from the active trading system just like any other trader vessel. We are fully compliant with trader norms.”
Williams nodded reluctantly. “And will you submit to an audit to confirm this?”
“Yes, of course. By yourself or your designate.”
Leo was starting to relax. Perhaps this was going to end well after all.
Gunny leaned forward with an evil smile. “One of their masters is a seeker.”
Williams looked like someone had raped his little sister. “What! Is this true Timur?”
Leo was surprised by William’s reaction. “Yes, I suppose so. I usually don’t inquire into the religious beliefs of my shipmates. It doesn’t really matter to me what those beliefs are as long as they don’t interfere with the operation of the ship.”
Gunny’s expression became even more evil. “Section four oh six.”
Williams nodded a sad little nod. “Yes, concur. Four oh six.”
Leo just looked at Craig, who let out a sigh. Silent until this point, he took in a deep breath and let out another sigh. Deeper than the first, the sound could only be described as resigned. “Gentlemen. Traders. I beg you not to invoke section 406. That provision was adopted by the security council in secret almost a hundred years ago and never been enforced. There is no threat to the guild from seekers and you all know it.”
Leo hit the mute. “What the fuck is 406?”
Craig just sighed again. “It was a defensive measure enacted after the seekers were originally formed. Before Raeburn was banned, there was a fear that the seekers would try to infiltrate the guild and destroy it from the inside. 406 was designed as a poison pill. Any seeker who becomes a master will be instantly banned along with the ship they are ship’s company on along with everyone on the ship. It’s the nuclear option.”
“You KNEW about this?”
“Yes, but I didn’t think they’d be dumb enough to use it.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s an admission of guilt.”
“What?”
Before Craig could answer, Williams was speaking again. “It is the agreement of this tribunal that section 406 conditions have been met. The tribunal will rule on the application of section 406. Master Thorsten?”
For the first time, Thorsten looked happy. “Aye.”
Williams nodded and made a note on his pad. “Master Lacey?”
Lacey seemed alert for the first time. “Nay.”
Williams again made a note. “And as chair of the tribunal, I vote Aye. The measure is carried. The Theo and her crew are banned, Master Timur you are directed to surrender your vessel.”
Craig hit unmute before Leo could get over his shock. “You stupid bastards. After telling everyone that quantum communications is impossible for three hundred years, you’re going to admit that 406 exists and tell everyone that the guild is deathly afraid of the one thing you all agree doesn’t exist?”
Thorsten turned red again, Williams looked confused. Lacy just nodded. “Craig, you’re a fucking asshole, but when you’re right you’re right. This will end the guild.”
“Paul, you’re a bastard and a cocksucker, but I always knew you had a brain. You know what I will do next, right?”
“Yeah. I do. Say hello to the old bastard for me, OK?”
“Will do.”
Before Leo could start asking questions, Ramona’s voice came over Leo’s earpiece. “LEO!! They’re launching cutters!!”
Leo hit mute again. “How many?”
“Six.”
“OK. Go for option bravo.”
“Executing.”
Leo unmuted. “Gentlemen. There are currently six cutters on the way towards my ship. Since I am no longer a member of the guild, I will assume they are hostile. You should be aware that I joined the spacer’s guild six hours ago and thus this vessel is now operating under spacer guild protection. Any hostile action will be met by force.”
“You cannot do that!”
“Watch me. Theo out.” With that, he cut the comms.
Craig was looking down, repeating to himself over and over, “stupid bastards. Stupid, stupid bastards.”
“Craig, snap out of it!” But Craig wouldn’t answer. Leo gave up and ran up to the bridge. “How are we doing?”
Ramona looked up from her console. “All twenty BR’s launched. We have a good handshake and they’re forming up between us and the hostiles.”
Ollu nodded. “We’re spooling up the drives. Should be out to the e-limit in an hour.”
“BR’s matching our movements.”
Leo was confused. “BR? I thought they were drones?”
Ramona chuckled. “You know, ‘Blockade Runner’? Craig said we needed marketing.”
“Oh Jesus.”
“Just think of the vid Craig is gonna make about this. ‘Renegade Traders’ or something.”
“I think I’ll call it, ‘the annihilation of hubris.’” Craig had recovered himself and was standing at the entrance to the bridge, leaning against a bulkhead with a sad look on his face. “Those stupid bastards are going to make me poor again.”
“Let’s talk about that later.”
Ramona suddenly started entering commands into her console. “Well, here they come.”
“Stupid bastards.”
“Shut UP Craig.”
Leo watched on the screen as the twenty Blockade Runners formed a defensive formation. Icons lit next to each ship showing their status, weapons hot and locked onto their targets.
Ollu picked up a handset. “Attention Trader vessels. You are approaching a Spacer Guild vessel. Veer off at once. Repeat veer off. Any approach closer than one gig will be considered hostile. This is your only warning.”
Leo raised an eyebrow. “A little dramatic, no?”
Ollu shrugged. “Do you think those are traders flying those cutters? I’m hoping that some sense breaks out.” She smiled. “Besides, it will sound good on the vid, later.”
Ramona was continuing to focus on her console. “This trick is only going to work if we keep latency under half a second. Keep our accel steady or we’re going to lose link.”
“Gotcha.” Ollu adjusted the Theo’s course and speed to allow the smaller ships to keep up.
“They’re making a dash, going for a weapons lock.”
“On us or the drones?”
“On us.”
Leo smacked his fist into his other hand in frustration. “Stupid bastards.”
Craig nodded sadly. “Told ya, kid.”
“Fuck, we’re going to have to shoot.”
Leo looked at Ollu, pleading for another answer. “Sorry Leo, we either surrender or we fight. No other options. You want to surrender?”
Leo looked at Ramona who shook her head. “No.”
Ramona looked at Ollu who nodded. “Set it up. Take one out.”
“Roger that. Taking out the lead.” Ramona had spent the past two weeks during their transit rewriting the control code from the blockade runners to accept remote commands. This effectively made the small armed cutters drones. In the meantime, Ollu’s crew had been busy printing out twenty of them. This had almost exhausted their supply of raw materials, but pretty much ensured that they would have a significant edge in firepower compared to the relatively lightly armed guild cutters.
While a guild cutter was a nice little ship and could defend it’s self against most low tech threats, it wasn’t a military vehicle. The Guild hadn’t been involved in armed conflict for hundreds of years and didn’t realistically expect to be facing any armed opposition. For this reason, their vessels and crews were not prepared for a full-on war with a prepared opponent. Upon command, all twenty BR’s turned their attention to the lead ship and fired several plasma bolts. Ramona had referred to this type of attack as a “time on target” attack. A tactic the Raeburn Guard had used very successfully in defending Raeburn against the Combine. The BR was extremely heavily armed for its size, designed to go up against full on warships. Each one had more than twice the firepower of a guild cutter and they also outnumbered the guild ships by more than two to one. Ramona had referred to them as “eggs swinging sledgehammers” due to their light shielding and hugely powerful armaments.
“Hit. Another hit.” Ramona studied her console for a moment. “The ship is dead in space.”
“Hold fire.” Ollu picked up her handset again. “Trader vessels. We have no desire to kill you all. Break off now and we will allow you to withdraw.”
Ramona continued to work on her console. “They’re not changing course. I think they’ll get lock on us in under thirty seconds.”
“Take out another one.”
“Sending the commands.” Again, the twenty small ships acted in concert. “Hit, HIT. The ship is coming apart. That’s a hard kill.” A pause. “The others are breaking off.”
Ollu sighed. “Stupid bastards.” She shot a quelling look at Craig. “Not one fucking word from you.”
Slowly, so slowly, the Theo made her way up out of the gravity well and towards the e-limit. The other data arks in system made no move to intercept and the smaller cutters eventually returned to their home ships. Ollu had been intently locked in on her instruments for entire run out system. “OK, let’s bring the BR’s in.” In a relatively short time, the drone ships were recovered and secured in one of the boat bays midway down the Theo’s side. “That’s the e-limit, engage FTL” As usual, the shift into FTL drive was almost imperceptible except that all external sensors stopped registering the system behind them.