He was going to hit Shirley! Mark grabbed at the nightstick and deflected it. Citizens and students clustered around. Some threw themselves at the cops. A big man, well-dressed, too old to be a student, kicked at the leading policeman. The cop went down.
Mark pulled Shirley away as a dozen black-jacketed Lampburners joined the melee. The Lampburners would deal with the cops, but Mark didn’t want to watch. The boys in his school had talked contemptuously about pigs, but the only police Mark had ever met had been polite and deferential; this was ugly, and—
His head swam in confusion. One minute he’d been lying in Shirley’s arms with music and fellowship and everything was wonderful. Now there were police, and groups shouting “Kill the pigs!” and fires burning. The Lampburners were swarming everywhere. They hadn’t been at the meeting. Most claimed to be wanted by the police. But they’d had a representative at the planning session, they’d agreed this would be a peaceful demonstration—
A man jumped off the roof of the burning building. There was no one below to catch him, and he sprawled on the steps like a broken doll. Blood poured from his mouth, a bright-red splash against the pink marble steps. Another building shot flames skyward. More police arrived and set up electrified barriers around the crowd.
A civilian, his bright clothing a contrast with the dull police blue, got out of a cruiser and stood atop it as police held their shields in front of him. He began to shout through a bull horn:
“I read you the Act of 2018 as amended. Whenever there shall be an assembly likely to endanger public or private property or the lives of Citizens and taxpayers, the lawful magistrates shall command all persons assembled to disperse and shall warn them that failure to disperse shall be considered a declaration of rebellion. The magistrates shall give sufficient time . . .”
Mark knew the act. He’d heard it discussed in school. It was time to get away. The local mayor would soon have more than enough authority to deal with this mad scene. He could even call on the military, US or CoDominium. The barriers were up around two sides of the green, but the cops hadn’t closed off all the buildings. There was a doorway ahead, and Mark pulled Shirley toward it. “Come on!”
Shirley wouldn’t come. She stood defiant, grinning wildly, shaking her fist at the police, shouting curses at them. Then she turned to Mark. “If you’re scared, just go on, baby. Bug off.”
Someone handed a bottle around. Shirley drank and gave it to Mark. He raised it to his lips but didn’t drink any. His head pounded and he was afraid. I should run, he thought. I should run like hell. The mayor’s finished reading the act.
“Equality now! Equality now!” The chant was contagious. Half the crowd was shouting.
The police waited impassively. An officer glanced at his watch from time to time. Then the officer nodded, and the police advanced. Four technicians took hoses from one of the cruises and directed streams of foam above the heads of the advancing blue line. The slimy liquid fell in a spray around Mark.
Mark fell. He tried to stand and couldn’t. Everyone around him fell. Whatever the liquid touched became so slippery that no one could hold onto it. It didn’t seem to affect the police.
Instant banana peel, Mark thought. He’d seen it used on tri-v. Everyone laughed when they saw it used on tri-v. Now it didn’t seem so funny. A couple of attempts showed Mark that he couldn’t get away; he could barely crawl. The police moved rapidly toward him. Rocks and bottles clanged against their shields.
The black-jacketed Lampburners took spray cans from their pockets. They sprayed their shoes and hands and then got up. They began to move away through the helpless crowd, away from the police, toward an empty building—
The police line reached the group around Mark. The cops fondled their nightsticks. They spoke in low tones, too low to be heard any distance away. “Stick time,” one said. “Yeah, our turn,” his partner answered.
“Does anyone here claim taxpayer status?” The cop eyed the group coldly. “Speak up.”
“Yes. Here.” One boy tried to get up. He fell again, but he held up his ID card. “Here.” Mark reached for his own.
“Fink!” Shirley shouted. She threw something at the other boy. “Hypocrite! Pig! Fink!” Others were shouting as well. Mark saw Shirley’s look of hatred and put his card back into his pocket. There’d be time later.
Two police grabbed him. One lifted his feet, the other lifted his shoulders. They carried him to the sidewalk. Then they lifted him waist high, and the one holding his shoulders let go. The last thing Mark heard as his head hit the pavement was the mocking laughter of the cop.
* * *
The bailiff was grotesque, with mustaches like Wyatt Earp and an enormous paunch that hung over his equipment belt. In a bored voice he read, “Case 457-984. People against Mark Fuller. Rebellion, aggravated assault, resisting arrest.”
The judge looked down from the bench. “How do you plead?”
“Guilty, Your Honor,” Mark’s lawyer said. His name was Zower, and he wasn’t expensive. Mark’s father couldn’t afford an expensive lawyer.
But I didn’t, Mark thought. I didn’t. When he’d said that earlier, though, the attorney had been contemptuous. “Shut up or you’ll make it worse,” the lawyer had said. “I had trouble enough getting the conspiracy charges dropped. Just stand there looking innocent and don’t say a goddamn thing.”
The judge nodded. “Have you anything to say in mitigation?”
Zower put his hand on Mark’s shoulder. “My client throws himself on the mercy of the court,” he said. “Mark has never been in trouble before. He acted under the influence of evil companions and intoxicants. There was no real intent to commit crimes. Just very bad judgment.”
The judge didn’t look impressed. “What have the people to say about this?”
“Your Honor,” the prosecutor began, “the people have had more than enough of these student riots. This was no high-jinks stunt by young taxpayers. This was a deliberate rebellion, planned in advance.
“We have recordings of this hoodlum striking a police officer. That officer subsequently suffered a severe beating with three fractures, a ruptured kidney, and other personal injuries. It is a wonder the officer is alive. We can also show that after the mayor’s proclamations, the accused made no attempt to leave. If the defense disputed these facts . . .”
“No, no.” Zower spoke hastily. “We stipulate, Your Honor.” He muttered to himself, just loud enough that Mark could hear. “Can’t let them run those pix. That’d get the judge really upset.”
Zower stood. “Your Honor, we stipulate Mark’s bad judgement, but remember, he was intoxicated. He did not actually strike the policeman, he merely gripped the officer’s nightstick. Mark was with new friends, friends he didn’t know very well. His father is a respected taxpayer, manager of General Foods in Santa Maria. Mark has never been arrested before. I’m sure he’s learned a lesson from all this.”
And where is Shirley? Mark wondered. Somehow her politician father had kept her from even being charged.
The judge was nodding. Zower smiled and whispered to Mark, “I stroked him pretty good in chambers. We’ll get probation.”
“Mister Fuller, what have you to say for yourself?” the judge demanded.
Mark stood eagerly. He wasn’t sure what he was going to say. Plead? Beg for mercy? Tell him to stick it? Not that. Mark breathed hard. I’m scared, he thought. He walked nervously toward the bench.
The judge’s face exploded in a cloud of red. There was wild laughter in the court. Another balloon of red ink sailed across the courtroom to burst on the high bench. Mark laughed hysterically, completely out of control, as the spectators shouted.
“Equality now!” Eight voices speaking in unison cut through the babble. “Justice! Equality! Citizen judges, not taxpayers! Equality now! Equality now! Equality now! All power to the Liberation Party!”
The last stung like a blow. The judge’s face turned even redder. He stood in fury. The fat bailiff and his companions moved decisively through the crowd. Two of the demonstrators escaped, but the bailiff was much faster than his bulk made him look. After a time the court was silent.
The judge stood, ink dripping from his face and robes. He was not smiling. “This amused you?” he demanded.
“No,” Mark said. “It was none of my doing.”
“I do not believe the outlawed Liberation Party would trouble itself for anyone not one of their own. Mark Fuller, you have pleaded guilty to serious crimes. We would normally send a taxpayer’s son to rehabilitation school, but you and your friends have demanded equality. Very well. You shall have it.
“Mark Fuller, I sentence you to three years at hard labor. Since you renounced your allegiance to the United States by participating in a deliberate act of rebellion, such participation stipulated by your attorney’s admission that you made no move to depart after the reading of the act, you have no claim upon the United States. The United States therefore renounces you. It is hereby ordered that you be delivered to the CoDominium authorities to serve your sentence wherever they shall find convenient.” The gavel fell to the bench. It didn’t sound very loud at all.