Storymania - Claustrum Chap. 2 by Mathew Hamm

Claustrum Chap. 2
Mathew Hamm

The Trial

The room was totally empty. No benches, chairs, or any decorations on the walls. On the north side of the six foot square room, was a dark window of about five feet in length and four feet in height. On the south side, a two-foot wide door that reached the eight foot ceiling. Everything within the room was a shiny white and one could not tell where the room began or ended, except for the dark window.
The cleanness and brightness of the whole room made it almost impossible for one to see, John focused on the dark glass window, witch seemed to be coming out at him, with all the brightness that surrounded him.
The temperature within the room was kept below 68 degrees. This was done to keep the room disinfected and clean as possible, since most inmates that were in this room usually went straight into Claustrum.
The Door opened and Johnathan appeared, being held by two guards. His body suit was a bright orange color and skin tight; his hands were held together behind him by a pair of magnetized shackles. Around each one of his ankles he wore a large metal shackles.
The guards stood by the entrance of the room and one of them said “Walk to the center of the room and stand, please”.
As Johnathan walked through the door, it quickly shut with a loud metal clang. Once he reached the center of the room, the metal bands around his ankles were magnetized to the ground, while at the same time his wrist shackles reacted to the magnetism of the floor forcing him to pull upward, and keep from being pulled to the ground by the magnetic force.
     He glanced backwards towards the door angrily, they knew that he was a fellow officer and they did not need to treat him this way.
The darkness of the window before him faded faded. In the center of that room there was a large desk and in front of that were two smaller ones, placed side by side. On the right side of the opposite room, a door slid open and three man walked in single file. The first two sat in the smaller desks and the last man sat on the large centered one.
The man on the center desk was Judge Oslim, an old friend of Johns. As he sat down, he looked over to John and his face turned red with anger.
     “For crying out loud, turn off the magnetized shackles, don’t you know this is Johnathan Baird” he exclaimed while pressing a button within his desk.
     “Sorry, John, sometimes I wonder about these guards” he said looking back at John.
     John glanced back at the Judge, at the same time the magnetic fields wore of the shackles and he relaxed his muscles, then looking up at the judge, he said with a nod “Of course”
     “How are you doing John?” the judge asked, as he sat up to get a better look at John.
     “Been Better”, John replied.
     “How did they treat you while in holding? Hopefully not too bad, these guards don't have respect for anyone regardless of title” The Judge exclaimed shacking his head negatively.
     “They are doing what would be expected of them, or at least, if I was a major criminal” John knew that the Judge would get to the bottom of his mistreatment.
      “I will take care of disrespect John, I assure you” the judge also nodded.
John nodded towards the Judge thankfully, after all they were friends, what else could be expected of him.
“Very well lets proceed” Said the Judge.
      The Judges desk was made of glass, as he touched one side of the desk it turned from a dark hue to a light bright blue one. The Judge touched the surface of the desk and documents in different formats appeared.
After he finished glancing through some picture files and documents he dragged one finger across the surface of the desk and and image appeared on the glass that separated the two rooms.
      “Before we get started, let me introduce you to Secretary Nancy White and Public Witness John Keller” the Judge said as he pointed to each individual when he mentioned their names.
     “Nice to see you again Mrs White” John said as he gave a small nod.
The secretary stopped type for a few seconds to look at John and nodded her head politely.
     On the window screen between the two rooms appeared text document that said The State of New York Versus Johnathan Baird, John glanced over it, then looked back over towards the Judge, waiting for the Judge to start the trial.
     The Judge began reading the document “The State of New York Versus Johnathan Baird. The case read by Judge Frank Oslim on Tuesday, July sixteen, of the year two thousand twenty nine” he then paused a second and looked at the digital clock within the screen on the table and continued “The time is exactly nine thirty three p. m”.
     As he read the complete list of charges, the secretary piled each file in the same order that the Judge presented them. She also checked to make sure that everything that was being said or done should be recorded and filed correctly.
     Johnathan then looked over towards the Public Witness, it was obvious this man did not want to be here, but it was state law that each and every citizen of the State must attend at least one trial during his life time. The man looked at John with worried eyes, as if he, Johnathan would harm him. The same respect he got from officers, now he was getting from a citizen. All he could do was to look at the man with out saying a word, and then he gave him a reassuring nod. The man sat up and relaxed a little.
     He then looked again towards the Judge, Frank Oslim, whom he had had the honor to had helped many times with many different trials, and here he sat before him, a close friend, giving him the hard job of Judging him, John felt sorry for the old man, but he was happy that it was him and not someone else.
     “John even do all the evidence shows that you killed MPF officer Jim Benson, and at the same time caused the death of Officer Peter Gutierrez I feel that all this has been overrated” he paused a second looking at another document within the screen. “For some reason they are recommending that you be sentenced for forty years in Claustrum. I will be overriding the recommended sentence to ten years, and due to the service you have provided for the State of New York, we are considering sentencing you for a total of seven years”
     “Your Honor, that is ridiculous!” John exclaimed.
     “I am sorry John that’s the best I can do for you” The Judge explained.
     “For one thing, Jim Benson held a gun to Peter’s head, and refused to put it down when ordered, and this alone can save me from the murder charge given to me”, answered John.
    “John, according to nearby witnesses, he agreed to put his gun down once he finished telling his side of the story” explained Judge Oslim.
John looked puzzled at this and asked “Say what?”.
     On the bottom right hand side of the window, a video analog appeared. A man sat facing a camera and smoking a cigarette. To John the man did not have the regular appearance of a MPF officer. For the most part he may not even be an Officer of MPF
     “State your name for the record” a female voice was heard asking the man on the video analog.
     “Henry Boum, Officer Henry Boum”, the man corrected himself.
“What department at the MPF, do you work for, Officer Boum”
     “I work for the Strategic Department” the man answered.
     “Can you tell me what you were doing at the MPF head quarters, late evening on Friday June fourteenth of two thousand twenty nine?” the female voice asked.
“I was visiting my friend and fellow Officer, Bruce Smith”.
“Can you tell me what happened, according to what you saw that night, Officer Boum?”
“Of course” he nodded, then continued. “Bruce and I were sitting at a back table, everyone had left the room, except for us, were we sat it was hard to be seen. We sat and watched the whole thing. Officer.....” he paused a second, “Gonzales…” he said mockingly.
     “Gutierrez” - the female voice corrected him.
     “All and all the same to me. Hard for me to tell them apart, you know!”
     “Keep to the story, please”, the female voice interrupted.
     The man smiled in her direction then looked back towards the camera.
      “Well, at one point I saw the man pleading with Officer Baird, but he just kept menacing the officer with his gun. At one point the Mexican officer yelled out for him to shoot and then it was all over, you know..” A grin on the mans face could be seen as he finished talking.
     John watched the video analog, trying to figure out, whom and why would someone want to frame him, first with trying to frame him for the murder of his wife, and now this. He then looked back at the Judge.
“Your honor, that is not how it happened” he said with a cal voice.
     The Judge raised his hand giving John a signal as if not to worry
     “One thing at a time John, please. Lets see where this is all leading to”
     At this, a second video analog appeared on the screen. This time it was a much younger man, clean shaved and pretty good looking, he too, did not have the characteristics of an MPF Officer, and also seemed a little nervous about the interrogation.
     “Please state your name for the record” the female voice was heard asking once more.
“O-officer Bruce Smith” the man stuttered a little as he answered.
“What department do you work for Officer Smith?”
     The man thought for a little then glanced around the room nervously, he finally looked back towards the female interrogator.
     “MPF Strategy Department?” he answered, almost as if asking as he looked towards the female interviewing him.
     “Look towards the camera please” the female demanded.
     “Can you tell me what you were doing at the MPF head quarters in the late evening on Friday June fourteenth of two thousand twenty nine?”
     “I- I was working that night” he answered.
     “Did you see this man at all where you were at the time?” a digital image of John appeared in the center of the table as the female asked the question.
     “Yes, that is the man that shot Officer Benson and Officer Gutierrez” he answered.
“Did he shot in self defense?”
“N-no, I don’t think so, he shot both man down with one single shot”
     “Thank you Officer Smith, you can go for now; you will be called if any further assistance is needed” the female voice finished.
     The man stood and almost seemed to run out the door. The female then walked over to the camera and informed about the place, time and date of the interview.
     “Well there you have your witnesses John” said the Judge.
     One thing was missing, Officer Tony's’ statement, John took the opportunity and asked the Judge “Your Honor, I don’t see Officer Block’s statement?”.
     “Why should you see his statement, he was not present at the time of the incident”
     “Of course he was, I used his weapon to shoot Jim Benson, your Honor” he declared.
     The Judge looked puzzled, he thought for a moment then quickly typed something on the desk. On the window screen you could see and image of the murder weapon. He then click and turned the image around, looking for the officer’s I-d number on the gun; he zoomed in and then it came into view.
     “AB109” was carved on the right side of the gun that was used for the murder.
     The Judge typed the I-d number on another section then an image of a man appeared on the screen, it was the face of Anthony Block, with all his personal information.
     “I see” exclaimed the Judge with a pleased look on his face.
    John felt relieved that this information was not taken into consideration when the whole evidence had been presented to the Judge.
     “But John, this does not mean that he was there”.
     “Your honor, as you know, those guns have to be programmed before anyone else can use them. You can look at the guns data, and see what time it was programmed for me to use and when the two shots were fired, and they should not be more than a minute apart” John explained.
     The Judge then click on the gun, pulled up the data, opened a folder named programmed and searched within it for John Baird’s name. He clicked on the name and it showed the time it was programmed. Eleven fifteen pm. Then he opened another folder called fired; the last shot fired was at eleven sixteen pm. He closed all folders and looked back at John.
     “Well, John, it seems to me that someone is playing cards with you and they just played their hand!”
     John knew it all along, he just had to show the Judge that he was being framed, he was thankful for this little screw up on his behalf.
     “I knew I was being frame, and actually they tried to frame me for the murder of my wive, thank God she had called when it happened and as for the witnesses, neither of those two were in the room. Hell, they were not even in HQ building” he cried out.
     The Judge brought both hands to mouth level and clasped his two hands together. “It appears that you are right,” he said. “but who?”
     John shook his head from side to side, his eyes seemed to be looking within his brain for an answer. A concerned looked formed over his mouth. He let out a deep breath and said “Beats me”
     The Judge called over the secretary, she stood, turned and leaned towards the Judge, discussing something with him. John cocked his head to one side, trying to to overhear them but with out success. She then sat back down on her desk and continued doing her work.
     “John, we are considering to change the sentence to a five year sentence, because of the facts that we have found, however, I have a preposition for you if you are willing to listen?” the Judge asked.
“Shoot, old man” John nodded.
Once John had said this, the Judge signaled for the Secretary and the Public Witness to leave the room. Once they were both alone, the Judge preceded to talk
     “This is of the record old friend” he stated.
     “Understood” John replied.
John figured it would be a new assignment, and more than likely it was going to take place in the place where he was going.
     “For many years, we have not have many problems within Claustrum and its inmates. But recently, we have had more than we can chew. Inmates are dying left and right and we do no know what is causing this. All we know is that there exists a secret order within the prison itself” the Judge explained.
     “And you want me to find out who is to blame for all this?” John asked.
     “Well John, I took advantage of the situation. You are more than qualified to do this mission, not only for your fighting skills, but for your ingenuity” continued the Judge. “It has been very hard for our regular spies to infiltrate this order”
     “You need names, I assume” John asked.
     “Ahh, yes, names, see I knew that you were the right man for this job” stated the Judge.
John pondered at this, it seemed that this had been planned, could the Judge be behind everything that had happened here? He would have to keep watch at all times.
     “What do I get out of this old man?” John asked. His habits of calling him old man had always been there, plus he knew that he needed to act normal, the Judge did not like the disrespect, and knew John always called him that, but he chose not to say anything this time, specially at the chance of John backing out of this mission.
     The Judge leaned back on his chair crossed his arms and gave a pleasurable smile towards John
     “Always a bargainer, huh John?” he asked.
     “Learned that from you, you should know that”, he answered.
     The Judge leaned forward placing his elbows on his desk and said “Well, for one, your sentence could be shortened to three years”
John raised his head as if looking towards the ceiling. He tighten his teeth and moved his lips from side to side. This for sure was an offer he could not refuse.
     “Well friend, what do you say?” he asked.
     “What if at the end of three years I do not have the names that you need?”
     “Well then you stay there as long as necessary, either way is better then the original sentence”
     John nodded his head in agreement.
     “Oh, what the hell, nothing else I can loose”, he exclaimed.
     “I knew that you would see it my way” the judge replied.
     The Judge called back the Public Witness and the Secretary. They walked in and sat back in their places.
     The Secretary looked towards the Judge and asked “has the accused come into an agreement, your Honor?”
     “Yes, Mrs. Nancy”
     “Does the agreement, go on record?”
     “No, it does not” he replied.
     “Thank you, your Honor”
     She then turned back and preceded to do her normal job.
     The Judge looked over some text documents, and signed them, then he saved a copy and sent another to an unknown destination.
      He then looked up at John.
      “Johnathan Baird, you have been sentenced to no less then three years in Claustrum, or until you carry out your end of the agreement, then and only then will you be restored to normal life”, he finished as he explained the sentence.
The Judge then nodded towards John and asked “Do you understand this sentence and agreement?”
“Yes your Honor”
     “Very well, the sentence to be carried out immediately” The judge finished, he closed all windows on the window between the two rooms then the table returned to its original dark hue.
     “I will see you soon friend” he stood and walked out of the room.
     After a few seconds the Public Witness stood and walked out followed by the Secretary. The Window darkened and John was completely alone.
     The minutes passed and then the door behind him slid open.
     “Please turn and walk towards the door” a man asked.
     John did so, as he reached the door, he saw that it was one of the man that brought him in earlier. This time he was alone.
     “Sorry about earlier, man,” he said.
     “I am sure you are,” he thought.
     John looked him over, but his face did not show any signs of being sorry.
     “I will be taking you to the booking section of the prison, and the Judge asked me not to shackle you from now on.” The man removed all shackles from Johns body, John rubbed his wrist in relief.
     “Please walk in front of me,” he said as he showed John where to go. After a short distance, they turned down another corridor and disappeared.