Mudd's Angels Page 16

  "Indeed, Captain," replied Spock. "This case will set a precedent for time-paradox cases. I tend to question the validity of the jury trial in such a matter."

  "Well, how would you decide, Spock?" said Kirk, smiling. "Logic can't do it, not this time. And somebody has to make a decision."

  "Off with his head," muttered McCoy.

  "At least," said Spock, "we are spared the alternative of tyrannical force majeste."

  The jury was out for a very long time.

  When they returned to the reconvened court, the spokesman (a Marilyn) stood before them. Her rosebud lips opened.

  "We find, your honor, that this case can only be considered on the basis of the time-sequence of experience. This was as follows: acts were committed by the defendant, as we have heard; the adventures within the time loop were next; the return to the Galaxy; and then the formation of the Government, the Constitution and the laws of Liticia. Therefore, the defendant is guilty as charged."

  Mudd seemed to collapse within his velvet tunic, a broken man.

  "But," went on the Marilyn, "he cannot be convicted. The only offense committed simultaneously with a law against it is—operating a ship without a license."

  Mudd swelled out his clothes again. McCoy buried his head in his hands.

  "The judge will now pronounce sentence," said the herald majestically. "The defendant will rise." Mudd skipped to his feet.

  "Oh, all right," he said. "Another couple of minutes of this son-et-lumiere if you must. It does need a finale—but you can't beat the show I put on in the Magellanic Clouds with a piddling little fine."

  "Silence in the court."

  "It is within the powers vested in the court to determine the sentence. In view of the case of Drashevin versus the Licensing Board of Shere Khan, and in view of the previous two convictions for the same offense on the part of the defendant, I sentence you, Harcourt Fenton Mudd, to banishment from this planet, from all contiguous planetary space and from all planets and planetary space contiguous to any Sector within the jurisdiction of the United Federation of Planets."

  Mudd looked disconcerted.

  "… under the control of the Klingon Empire…"

  Mudd looked disturbed.

  "… or under the authority of the Romulan Empire and its allies, for ever and in aeternum."

  Mudd looked appalled, as the last words rolled round the room. "You can't do this to me, I'll appeal, I'll appeal to the Supreme Court—"

  "The Supreme Court has given us blanket authorization to dispose of you as we see fit."

  "A mandamus," said Clarence happily.

  "You are a menace to the order of this Galaxy and will forthwith be removed from it. Your ship is waiting," concluded the judge.

  "Sh-ship?"

  "A somewhat improved version of the Superstella, redesigned for one-way passage through the Barrier. You will find it quite comfortable. It is even fitted with companions for you—not quite what you are used to, of course. The crew are female-shaped automata, non-conscious. Both they and the ship are irreversibly programmed to self-destruct if you make any effort to return to this Galaxy.

  We wish you a pleasant journey. Court is adjourned."

  A small group watched the ship take off, ears filled with the complex and inspired cursing of Harcourt Fenton Mudd.

  "That should be the last we hear of him," said McCoy.

  They looked up at the starry sky, the constellation of the Toucan, the two Magellanic Clouds.

  "I wonder," said Kirk, "since we came back in time—did the catastrophe to the Cloud occur at all?"

  "We'll know that in about one hundred sixty thousand years," said Spock, "when the light of its recent past reaches us."

  "By that time, he'll probably have blown up the other one," said Weinberg.

  "He's just as likely to find a way to sell it," sighed Kirk.