Chapter 7 - The Verdict and the GhostThe deliberation of the tribunal took less than twenty minutes. In truth, there was nothing to deliberate; the evidence was an unassailable mountain of digital blood and gold.
When the chief judge reconvened the court, the atmosphere was thick enough to suffocate. Every person in the gallery stood in rigid silence as the sentence was read aloud.
"For the crimes of high treason, corporate malfeasance, conspiracy to commit orbital sabotage, and accessory to mass murder," the chief judge’s voice echoed solemnly, "this tribunal finds the defendant, Arthur Warren, guilty on all counts."
The judge paused, adjusting his glasses before delivering the final decree.
"Arthur Warren is hereby sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in the maximum-security correctional facility on Titan-5. All remaining personal assets, properties, and corporate holdings are permanently seized by the United Defense Council, with restitution funds directed to the families of the Kepler-9 victims."
A collective gasp rippled through the gallery. Life on Titan-5—a frozen, high-pressure penal colony buried deep beneath the methane ice crust of Saturn's largest moon. It was a sentence reserved for the worst war criminals and syndicate lords.
Arthur didn't scream. He didn't protest. As the military police officers unlocked the transparent barrier and roughly hauled him to his feet, locking heavy magnetic binders around his wrists, his eyes searched the courtroom until they found Celeste.
She was standing at the prosecutors' podium, her expression as calm and unmovable as a granite monument.
As the guards dragged Arthur past the podium toward the side exit, he stopped for a fraction of a second, his voice a hoarse, broken whisper.
"I gave you life, Celeste..."
Celeste looked down at him, her dark eyes reflecting neither triumph nor anger, only the profound peace of a debt finally settled.
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"No, Arthur," Celeste replied quietly, her voice carrying only to his ears. "You gave me an inheritance of cruelty. I earned my life myself."
With a sharp nod to the guards, she watched as her father was led away through the heavy steel doors, disappearing into the shadows of the corridor from which there was no return.
