Echo

26. Court

The next morning, we go to court. It's a press nightmare. They are everywhere. Every station is here. Even people that aren't press are here. I watch them from the roof with Malax. I wave and they cheer.

He puts his arm around me to walk me in and they go crazy.

Our helicopter leaves and the Kinnik helicopter lands.

We find the room with Eriska in it and sit around a table. "Do we know what side we're on yet?"

"I think we're on opposite sides."

She nods. "It's fine. I have arguments for both sides. I can help either way."

Malax laughs.

"Laugh all you want, but I'll be arguing her side. Do you want the notes?"

"Yes, please." I read what she wrote a few times. "Both sides do argue well."

"Yes. It's a hard case. There is no easy answer. They attempted to contact Phade. The main argument is going to be that they should have contacted the authorities, not Phade. And they're adults, they should have known that." She shrugs her shoulders. "It's going to come down to whether they believed the threat was real or not, and I believe they did. They contacted Phade. But the only person they were trying to save was you. How are you 2 taking this together?"

Malax shrugs his shoulders. "We're going to say what we need to say and leave. Like everyone says, it's not easy. But we're going to walk away after we say we have to and be done with it."

Daddy and Azo come in. "Do you know the Phade helicopter doesn't say Phade on it?"

"I don't have a helicopter. I rent when I need to. I don't need to do that often."

"Yes, but it's better if it says Phade. Everyone knows it's yours. And they don't cost that much. I'll send you the information about our salesperson."

"Thank you."

I try not to laugh. "He uses ours for the most part."

"That's been true for this month, sweetheart. You're not wrong."

Someone dressed in a suit comes in. "Adults, you can go in and see everything. Octavia, you will be brought in when it's your turn."

"Ok."

I message Scotch and ask him how his game went. Then me and Eriska talk about the houses on Cru N. We get some paper from someone walking by, and we draw my lab. It's a full 2 hours before I get called in.

She fixes my jacket and I follow the fancy women.

The cameras flash, and she guides me to a seat by the judge. "State your name please."

"Octavia Echo Kinnik."

The judge smiles. "You are here on your own free will?"

"Yes, sir."

"Has anyone threatened you about this case?"

"No, sir."

"Do you know what a judge is?"

"Yes, you decide if someone is guilty of a crime or not. Then you give punishment that's appropriate for the crime."

"Very good. You are smart."

I smile. I like him.

"I was told you would like to speak about this case. Is this true?"

"Yes, sir."

"You have our attention. They're going to ask you some questions."

"Ok. Thank you, sir."

"Octavia, do you know either of the 2 men sitting there?"

"No."

"Have you seen them, other than at the police station?"

"No, sir."

"Do you believe they're guilty of any crimes?"

"No, sir."

"Why do you believe that?"

"They heard a rumor about bombs being at Phade Enterprise. They tried to call and tell us. I got scared and ran away from the phone. I didn't know what to think. It was scary. I didn't tell anybody. They must have called back and got someone else. The police showed up. Then we got evacuated."

"Your witness."

Another man stands up. "So, 2,000 people could have died, and you're saying that was ok because they tried to save YOU?"

I shake my head.

"That's exactly what you're saying."

"HE'S MEAN." I point at him.

"Mr. Inly rephrase the question. Stop leading and be kinder. She is a child."

"At the time of the incident were you aware there were 2,000 people in that building?"

"No."

"When did you find that out?"

"Yesterday."

"Yesterday?"

"Yes, sir. Mr. Phade told me."

"Do you know what hypothetically means?"

"Pretend."

"Good. We're going to pretend that someone told you there is a bomb in this building. What would you do?"

"Run away." They chuckle.

"We're going to pretend you're somewhere else. You're not here. The bomb is. What are you going to do?"

"Who told me it's here?"

"Does that matter?"

"I think so. Is it a crazy homeless man that is talking to his imaginary dog? Is it my best friend? She's always threatening something and not meaning it. Is it someone that's really mad? Is a person joking? Can I really tell if a stranger is joking? Am I overhearing 2 coherent people talk about the exact location of a bomb? Is it a high drug addict who can't stand up? Is it a strong group of people that will hurt me if I say anything? Am I scared of them? Do I know the person saying this? I hear rumors all the time. A lot of them are about me. 99% of them are not true. I have a tendency not to believe rumors. So, who told me about the bomb, or where did I over hear it?"

"A drug addict that can't stand up."

"Roll my eyes."

"You're best friend."

"Tell her to stop being dramatic."

"Man talking to his imaginary dog."

"Run away from him."

"Your witness." He sits down and rubs his eyes.

"At the headquarters of a very strong group."

"Run away. I don't know why I'm there. Can they hurt my family? I assume they can hurt my family. If they can try to kill 2,000 people, they can surely hurt me or my family. I want to hide. I have to protect my family."

"Even with police protection?"

"People can die under police protection. We studied it in school. Strong organized groups can kill even police."

The other 1 jumps up again. "2 coherent people talking in a library. You happen to overhear it."

I take a deep breath and look at the judge. "Can I get in trouble for reporting a rumor that's not true to the police?"

"Not if you believed to the best of your judgment it was true."

"I would call the police."

"Thank you." The mean man sits and rolls his eyes. "Do you believe these 2 men believed the rumor?"

"No."

"Why?"

"They called Phade Enterprise. So, the guards could search to see if it was true. Or they did believe the rumor, and they were afraid their family would be hurt."

"You hung up on the first call, right?"

"Yes."

"Was anything said about a bomb?"

"No. I heard."

"Your witness."

"What did you hear?"

"Echo Kinnik will die. I hung up then. It scared me. I didn't hear anything else. Not 1 word."

"I can see how that would scare you."

I nod.

"You ran away from the phone?"

"Yes."

"No further questions."

"I'm done too, your honor."

"Thank you, gentlemen. Did you have anything else to say, Octavia?"

"I don't think so."

"Thank you for coming in today. The CP Agent will escort you out. You can ask her any questions."

"Thank you."

She takes me back to Eriska. "Did I do good?"

"You did very well. You said your thoughts and got everyone thinking. Did you have any questions for me?"

"I don't think so. I just wanted to say my feelings."

"You did perfectly. You got up in front of everyone and a judge, and then told them how you felt. I am very proud of you."

I smile and give her a hug. She's nice too.

"Would you like something to drink or eat? I can show you where the break room is."

Eriska jumps up. "Yes please. I need to see something other than these walls."

The lady shows us where the break room is and we get some juice. Then we roam around. The place is big. I'm not sure if we could get back if we had to. We give ourselves a tour. Mostly it's hallways with doors. We don't try to open anything. Then an alarm goes off.

"DOES THAT MEAN FIRE?"

"I DON'T KNOW. LET'S GET OUT." She pulls me out the front door.

Police are everywhere. The press is on the ground. We're on top of the steps. They scream questions at us. The police get between us and them.

It's so loud.

Malax runs out and grabs us. He pulls us back into the building. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"We thought there was a fire."

"Yea, the fire alarm went off."

He rubs his face. "Let's get out of here. You are too bored."

"The judge wants to see them."

"Wonderful." He shakes his head.

We go to a different room. The judge smiles. This must be his office. Daddy is here. Malax is still with me.

"What happened?"

"We got lost."

Eriska nods. "She took us to get some drinks, and we couldn't remember the way back. So we walked around. We waved to a lot of people."

"They are friendly here." He smiles. "Then the fire alarm went off."

"We know to go outside. We don't want to burn up."

"Malax made us come back in. Now, here we are."

He nods. "I needed the story. I don't think you 2 were doing anything bad. But the alarm went off because 2 children were missing. It wasn't a fire alarm."

"Sorry. We'll go back to our room if you tell us how to get there."

"No. I'm taking you back to Phade. Less trouble you can get into."

The judge laughs. "Probably true. Were you scared today?"

"Yes. Mostly when I got there. There were so many people and everyone looked official. I wanted to express my feelings. I didn't know so many people would hear them."

"How many did you think would be in there?"

"Like 3."

"Few more than 3. And it is intimidating being there. But you did very well. Everyone understood what you were saying. You were very brave."

"Thank you." I give him a hug.

Daddy stands up. "You don't have to hug everyone."

The CP lady smiles. "Children love hugs. And she feels safe enough to give them. That's what we like to see. You have a wonderful day."

"You too."

"How much longer is it going to be?"

"Could be days."

"We can all go." Daddy calls for our helicopter.