C01 Arraignment02

Scene from EC's novel "Maragana Girl" - www.asstr.org/~caligula97030/d…

The police then handcuffed the three girls and separated Kim from the others. A guard led Kim to an interrogation room. Once in the room the guard locked the door and unlatched Kim's handcuffs. He led her to face a table where three very stern-looking officials, two men and an older woman, were sitting. Kim's backpack was placed on the floor in front of her, along with the plastic bags of her clothing and jewelry.

The guard snapped at Kim in Danubian and tapped her body to force her to spread her legs and place her hands behind her head. Words could not describe the humiliation sweeping through the prisoner as she stood completely exposed, her arms and legs spread, in front of those three well-dressed officials and all those cops standing in the back of the room.

It was apparent that only the woman spoke any English, since during the interrogation only she directly addressed Kim and translated for her two companions.

"You are the American, Kimberly Lee?"

"Y…yes ma'am."

"And you were detained behind the Temple of the Ancients about two hours ago with two other Americans?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Is this backpack your property, an item that you brought with you earlier today from Amsterdam?"

"Yes…ma'am."

"You shall understand that under our laws, you are solely responsible for the contents of the backpack you brought from Amsterdam. We shall now search your backpack."

With that one of the male officials raised his hand. A guard opened up the backpack. The very first item he pulled out was a full sandwich bag of marijuana. He handed it to the three officials, who examined it and placed it on a scale. Kim nearly fainted. She had forgotten the group's entire stash of marijuana was being kept in her backpack. The three officials took notes as the guard emptied out the rest of the backpack. He found Tiffany's rolling paper and her marijuana pipe. He placed both items on the table in front of the officials. He found a colorful t-shirt with a marijuana emblem on it. Finally he pulled out Kim's traveling cash and placed it next to the bag of marijuana and the other items on the table.

The panel looked over the items the cop had placed on the table, and talked quietly among themselves. One of the men talked to the woman, apparently giving her some instructions. Finally she addressed Kim:

"Young lady, according to your passport you entered our country at 9:00 this morning. Unless you are able to present evidence to the contrary, this panel is convinced that you entered our territory with 432 grams of marijuana. This panel is also persuaded that the cash in your possession was raised from the sale of marijuana, either in this country or in the country from which you departed to come here."

Kim felt like she was about to throw up. The spokeswoman continued.

"At 13:30 hours this afternoon, two uniformed officers of the law and three common citizens witnessed you smoking marijuana in the Sacred Grounds behind the Temple of the Ancients. Do you deny smoking marijuana in that location at that time?"

"No, ma'am, I don't deny that."

"Are you aware that the Grand Duchy of Upper Danubia's legal system is separate and sovereign from that of the Netherlands and that all mind-altering substances are illegal here?"

"Yes, ma'am, I understand that."

"But you made a conscious decision to violate our laws by bringing marijuana into our country and smoking it. Is that true?"

Kim sobbed. "Yes, ma'am, it's true."

"And that you intended to raise income by selling and distributing marijuana in this country?"

"No…please! That part isn't right! We just wanted to have enough in case we couldn't get any in Prague! Please! We weren't trying to sell it!"

The woman picked up the bag of tightly packed marijuana and waved it up and down slightly. Her voice took on a very cold tone of skepticism.

"400 grams? For personal use? This panel finds that hard to believe."

"Ma'am! Please! We…"

"That is quite enough from you! You can give your side of the story at your trial tomorrow. This panel will recommend that you face charges of importing marijuana into our territory, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute for illicit gain, use of marijuana in a public location, and violation of the Sanctity of the Ancients."

The leader of the arraignment panel stood up and drew his fist across his chest, which was the Danubian way of saying "this meeting is concluded". One of the guards took Kim's wrists and handcuffed them together while another photographed the spread-out contents of her backpack.