Testimony
An experimental science fiction short story
Attunga thanks her Excellency Planetary Governor Pangari for granting a stay of execution and consenting to hear his appeal. She is most benevolent and generous, a star shining in the firmament of the just government of the Koor Protectorate.
As her Excellency has certainly reviewed the results of the medical examination she ordered, Attunga hopes she understands the motivation for the unorthodox form of this statement. For Attunga stands convicted of crimes in which he took no part. Another actor appropriated his body, leaving him no memory of the events in question, nor did he initiate them. Can his conviction be considered just under such circumstances? Surely the other must be held accountable.
For this reason, Attunga’s argument shall be written as though the other were speaking. Yet the other has fallen silent and can no longer be awakened. Its memory remains concealed. Attunga must rely upon court records to reconstruct events, and in so doing has noted areas where supposition, not fact, colored the court’s verdict. Her Excellency will surely agree upon review of these facts that even the other cannot be justly condemned, and will no doubt overturn the conviction.
Attunga, a citizen of the province of Nungri, possessing a valid passport and having obtained the necessary…
