The Tribunal

"But Clark," Bill said, all the blood draining from his face, "why don't you do it?"

"Because I've got to know who I can really trust, once and for all. I can't run a ship like this all on my own, I've gotta know there's at least one man I can count on, rain or shine. That man has to be you."

Clark took Bill by the shoulders, almost shaking him.

"You've gotta prove it to me. Prove it to me now. You do this one thing, you'll have it made for the rest of your life, that's a promise Bill, a promise from me. Think about everything we've meant to each other, and I know you'll make the right decision. I know it.."

Bill looked at Clark, then at the gun, and then...

The projector turned off.

"So you chose to turn yourself and Mr. Ashton in rather than consent to murder his wife?"

"Yes," said Bill. His throat was dry.

"Why?"

"I realized that the plan wouldn't work. The apparatus was too big to take down the way Clark intended. We would all have been caught eventually, and along the way more people would have been hurt. It wouldn't have stopped with Bonnie, no matter what Clark said.

"Besides," he continued, "that Clark would come to me, ask me to do it, put me in that position rather than take it on himself...I guess it meant he wasn't the man I thought he was."

Bill folded his hands on his lap.

"What if Mr. Ashton had asked someone else to kill his wife?"

Bill paused. "I guess that would be between them. But he didn't."

"Thank you Mr. Angler," said the Tribunal. "We are glad that you have been so cooperative. We will remember it when we render our verdict."

"Is it true about corporate spouses? Are they really spies?"

"Yes," said the Tribunal.

Bill swallowed. "I have another question."

The Tribunal was quiet.

"I think I've earned it," said Bill. "I gave you everything you wanted."

"Proceed."

"Have you already tried Clark?"

"We concluded our interview with Mr. Ashton this morning."

Bill's heart sagged. "What was the verdict?"

"Mr. Ashton has received a promotion."

Bill's mouth fell open. "What?"

"Mr. Ashton is now an executive. He has been transferred out of your department."

Bill slumped back in his chair. "I-I don't understand?"

The Tribunal's camera lenses clicked and whirred. "Clark Ashton was not your supervisor. He was a Vega-class internal security operative assigned to root out subversive elements within the company. He spent twelve years in deep cover, four posing as your boss."

"Clark was...a spy?"

"One of the best. Our standard psychological profiling is inadequate for identifying all potential subversives. We need men like Clark Ashton to assist us."

Bill's stomach heaved. "So our...relationship, was that part of his cover too?"

"Yes. We've always been aware of your latent homosexual tendencies, Mr. Angler. We assigned Clark Ashton to your case because we wanted to see if they could be used to influence you."

Bill imagined that the Tribunal's recorded voice somehow sounded smug. He dropped his glasses, fumbled with them on the floor, then put them back on with a shaky hand.

"So Clark's finally an executive," Bill said. "He deserves it."

"Indeed. And now to decide what you deserve, Mr. Angler. We will rejoin you with our verdict shortly."

The Tribunal seemed to turn off, its fingers relaxing and its camera eyes winking out, but then it jerked back to life a second later.

"We have one last question, Mr. Angler."

Bill blinked. "Yes?"

"Why did you believe us?"

Bill was flabbergasted. "What do you mean?"

"You took our word for it that Clark Ashton had betrayed you, and that your wife is informing on you. We told you that two people you have been intimate with are not trustworthy, and you did not object. Why?"

Bill sighed. "Because I know you signed the order for my execution before this even started. And I don't see any point in lying to a dead man."

"Thank you," said the Tribunal, and went dark.

Bill looked at the mirror. He wondered if he could break it and cut his wrists before they stopped him. Maybe it was worth it to try? There was nothing to do now except die on his own terms-

The Tribunal turned back on.

"William Angler, we have reached a decision. Are you ready to hear the judgment in your case?"

Bill cursed. Too slow.

"Yes," he said, "I am."

"Very well then. We find you guilty on all counts, William Angler, and the sentence passed against you is this:

"To live."

Bill blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"We sentence you to live, Mr. Angler."

Bill stammered. "I don't understand. Am I going to prison?"

"No Mr. Angler, you're going home, and then back to your job tomorrow."

Bill's hands were shaking. "That doesn't make sense?"

"If you were executed, we would lose a valuable worker, and you would die confident that everything we have told you was the truth, since, as you observed, there is no point in lying to a dead man.

"But as you will instead live, the company will continue to profit off of you, and you will go the rest of your life never knowing what the truth is.

"Never knowing if Clark Ashton betrayed you.

"Never knowing if your wife can be trusted.

"Never knowing if anything that you've learned is true or if this has all been an elaborate sham to make it impossible for you to trust anyone ever again, and thus, to make it impossible for you to conspire against us ever again.

"For your crimes, William Angler, we condemn you to live, in fear and uncertainty, until the day you die. That is our judgment, that is your fate."

Bill sat, stunned, silent. The Tribunal's eyes burned like embers. Bill cleared his throat.

"I think, if you don't mind me saying so, that I would prefer to be executed."

"That is why you will not be. Good day, Mr. Angler."

The Tribunal turned off for the last time, and the door opened, and the guards took him away. They pushed him out the back door, and left him blinking in the glare of the afternoon sun, alone.