Fantasy & Science Fiction Mar-Apr 2013 Read Online Free PDF Page A

what?" someone in the audience exclaimed. Taney glared at the man and the hubbub subsided.
    "By this," Taney addressed himself to Turner once more, "do you mean a soul ?"
    "I…I suppose so."
    "And whence came this soul?"
    "I'm sorry, your Honor, the papers don't say. It must have been the sort of man suited to catching slaves. Maybe even a slave himself." Turner recovered a modicum of composure as he nodded in approval of his own argument.
    Thomas felt too numb, too horrified to speak. At his side, John Wales scribbled notes on a piece of foolscap.
    Judge Hall cleared his throat. "So you have no information as to whether the provider of this…soul was a free man or slave?"
    "Your Honor!" Turner's attorney exclaimed, gesturing for his client to remain silent. "Is this germane to the charges?"
    "We are attempting to determine whether the automaton constitutes in itself a device for the unlawful imprisonment of a free man's…soul, or whether, in its capacity as the encasing structure for a slave, it fulfills in its entirety the definition of property. "
    The discussion went on for another three-quarters of an hour, although Thomas had not the heart to follow it closely. It sickened him to his very marrow to think of Adam, that new and bright spirit, now so casually extinguished. As a Friend, he was committed to the testimony of peace, but he could not deny the anger that stirred at the notion of the souls of men, those reflections of Divinity itself, treated as expendable commodities.
    Adam, gone.…
    Turner submitted his ownership papers, along with other informational materials from the Lake Geneva Trading Company, as evidence. Taney announced that he and Judge Hall would review the documents and hear closing arguments after the recess. After they retired, John Wales leaned toward Thomas.
    "Mr. Covington, are you unwell?"
    Thomas came back to himself. "Friend," he said, gently reminding the lawyer that Quakers did not use such titles, "I am distressed to learn of the death of a friend."
    "You cannot mean the automaton?"
    "Not the metal housing, but the soul within it, yes. John Wales, this was a child of God, even as you or I. Should we not mourn his passing, and for such a senseless cause as the pursuit of men who seek only their own freedom?"
    Wales swept his hair back from his high forehead. "The business at hand is your acquittal. Grief and politics can come later."
    Grief comes when it comes, Thomas thought, but did not say it aloud.
     
    Court resumed. Turner's lawyer restated his case, pointedly referring to the eyewitness testimony. He implied that the malfunction of the automaton, which necessitated the considerable expense of repairs, was due to damage inflicted on it by the defendant. Wales, in his turn, argued that Cochoran and his assistants had entered the property of Thomas Covington uninvited. Without a proper warrant and proof of ownership of the mechanical device, Thomas had been under no obligation to deliver the automaton. If the automaton had refused to comply with its instructions, then perhaps those instructions were improperly issued. Given the necessity for subsequent repairs, the automaton was certainly defective. In neither case could responsibility be assigned to his client.
    As persuasive as these arguments were, Thomas grew increasingly uneasy. The question was not whether Cochoran or Turner or anyone else had the proper authority to claim a piece of stolen equipment, but whether Adam or any human soul should be enslaved.
    Thomas caught the eye of his attorney and beckoned him over. "John, thee must allow me to speak. Put me on the stand!"
    "Are you mad? You'll be under oath and the plaintiff will question you on cross-examination! You'd be slitting your own throat!" Wales hesitated, perhaps remembering that Thomas would not swear an oath that implied he was at other times untruthful. "I'm sorry, but it's too late. Unless you have some new piece of evidence you haven't told me about."
    "Not