Roquana
by
Robin
Gordon
Auksford 2013
©
Copyright Robin Gordon, 2013
Auksford
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to Robin
Gordon's works.
-- Roquana:
index.
Book
III: New Jackrusselham
***
Chapter 11: The Trial
Roquana Smuff
(Unknown)
It was
immediately apparent that a trial before the Holy Synod bore little or
no relation to a trial before a court of law. There was to be
no
presentation of the respective cases for the prosecution and defence,
indeed there was no defence counsel at all, and the functions of
prosecuting counsel and presiding judge were united in one person, the
acting President of the Holy Synod, Monsignor Gulls.
He was at his most silkily persuasive,
and his
careful laying of stress on prepositions and conjunctions gave his
discourse a spurious air of significance and authority while at the
same time, lulling his hearers into a semi-soporific state in which he
could slide imperceptibly from truths to half-truths, from half-truths
through increasingly damning innuendos to downright lies.
Like
the hypocritical Wizard in the surviving fragments of the Gospel
According to St Joyur Tullkine he could have convinced the most
sceptical among us that black was white.
Monsignor Gulls
(Unknown
“In
the absence of
Her
Excellency, President Bananas,” he began, “it
necessarily
falls to me as
Procurator of
the Holy Synod to
undertake her functions and in
particular to
preside over
this trial which has
unfortunately become necessary. I am sure that all Members of
the Holy Synod will join with
me
in sending to
our beloved President our very
best wishes and
our hopes
that, following a course of
medical and
psychological
treatment, she may recover from
her very grave illness, be fully restored to
health and
resume her duties as
President of
our Colony here on Sunday.
“The reason for
our beloved President’s indisposition, as
we all know, was that she
received a severe shock and
was so appalled by
certain
slanderous misinformation that she suffered fit of
apoplexy and had to be
immediately placed under
sedation if
her life was to
be saved. What those slanders were, and
who was responsible for
them, will form part of the
matter to be discussed at
this trial.
“The accused is Sulamun
Tadler, a
long-standing member of
the
Holy Inquisition, an institution for which I, and
indeed all members of
the Holy Synod, have nothing but
the greatest respect. The
Holy Inquisition is a guarantor of liberty and
freedom from
oppression by
criminal elements not only here on
Sunday but throughout the
Commonwealth. The continued moral health of
the populations of
the multifarious planets within
the Commonwealth depends
absolutely on
the rectitude and
uprightness of
the guardians of
the Commonwealth ethos, that is of
the Inquisitors. They are
entrusted with
the very grave
responsibility of
access to
the minds of
everyone right across the
Commonwealth – with,
I
suppose, the possible exception of
Her Majesty, the Queen, and
that responsibility carries with
it the need for
absolute
probity to
guarantee that
no Inquisitor would ever seek to
influence his subject or to
use any information discovered
during the course of an
inquisition for
personal gain.
Dr Sulamun
Tadler, Inquisitor
(Derek Jacobi)
“Here on
Sunday we have been very fortunate in
our Inquisitors, and I am sure the Holy Synod would wish to
put on
record its appreciation of
and gratitude for
the magnificent achievements of
the Grand Inquisitor and
his staff in
maintaining the admirable moral
purity of
our planet, which
has become virtually proverbial throughout the Commonwealth.
“The temptations which must
constantly assail
any Inquisitor are of
an
order of
which few if any of
us can conceive, and
the
absolute honesty with
which
the Grand Inquisitor and
his
staff have carried out
their
onerous duties is deserving of
our sincere admiration, for,
should an Inquisitor ever fall below
the high standards set by
the
Grand Inquisitor, the damage that
he could inflict on
our
society is inestimable in
its
destructive effects, and,
unfortunately, it has to
be
faced that
one Inquisitor,
namely Sulamun Tadler, has
fallen below those high standards, and
that is why
we face the
unpleasant task of
investigating just how far he has lapsed from
grace, and
what, if any, damage has been
done to
our community.
“Inquisitor Tadler is accused of
misusing an inquisitorial
examination for
his own
purposes. His subject was
a young girl called Roquana Smuff, who lived with
her mother in
Beddleham. While Dr Tadler
was
investigating Roquana
Smuff she was recruited to
work as a housemaid at
Lord
Savark’s country residence, Savark Court. It must
have been
at
this point that Sulamun
Tadler saw his chance to pry into
the private life of
one of
the most prominent families on
Sunday, to spy on
Lord Savark
himself, the leader of
the
Sunday Development Corporation and the man to
whom, above all others, we owe
the peaceful and
indeed moral
development of
our colony.
“Sulamun Tadler is not
a senior
Inquisitor, he is hardly the
stuff of
which Eminences are
made – shee-hee-hee
– and he had therefore never been given the task of
investigating any really
prominent member of
the
Establishment. As
I
have already pointed out, Inquisitors must be utterly and
entirely dependable, so that
they can be trusted not to
take personal advantage of
any confidential information they may
uncover during the course of
their investigations. How much more
important this is
when the
people undergoing inquisition are members of
the Government: Senators,
Ministers of
the Crown,
persons possessed of
state
secrets which, if
they fell into
the wrong
hands could imperil the peaceful governance of
Sunday.
“So, as
I have said, Inquisitor Tadler had
never been entrusted with
conducting enquiries into
the
lives of
senior
members of
the
Establishment. Perhaps at this stage it was merely
curiosity that led him to
remain with Roquana Smuff at
Savark Court, or
perhaps
he had already
conceived the project of
seeking out information
that he could use for
personal profit. At
any
rate he was able,
through
the eyes of
his subject to
obtain sufficient information about
the layout of Savark Court and
the life of
the household to
give the
slanders that
he was later to
concoct a semblance of
truth.
“Having conceived this plan,
Sulamun Tadler
had to
remove Roquana Smuff from
Savark Court and
bring her to New
Jackrusselham. This he achieved in
a most cunning manner.
Realising that a young girl travelling on
her own through
the wild
woodlands of Sunday was in
considerable danger of
being
attacked and
eaten by
the Tohu, his first
move was to
obtain for
her a
companion. Contrary to
all the principles of
the
Holy Inquisition
he set out to
influence his
subject – indeed to take total
control of
the mind of
the unfortunate Roquana Smuff, and,
having done
so, he deliberately manipulated her into
seducing a young footman, one
Tommuz Crumptin.
Tommuz Crumptin
(Jonathan Bailey, actor)
“Roquana Smuff, under
the control of
Inquisitor Tadler, behaved in
a way that was totally out of
character
for
her – indeed a way
that is foreign to
all of
our young
maidens on
Sunday. She
led the young man into
isolated parts of
the garden, into copses, shrubberies and
deserted summerhouses.
There she kissed and cuddled him, fondled every part of
his body,
unfastened his clothing, excited him beyond
all bearing, and
eventually
seduced him into the act of
copulation.
“Still controlled by
Inquisitor Tadler,
Roquana Smuff now blackmailed Tommuz Crumptin into agreeing to
accompany her if ever she left Savark Court and
to go with her to
New
Jackrusselham.
“Tadler’s next move
was to
precipitate
Roquana Smuff’s flight. It was obvious that
Tommuz Crumptin
would never agree to
follow
her into
the wilderness under
normal
circumstances, in fact he probably dissuaded her from
leaving on
more
than one occasion. Tadler now used the occasion of one of
Lord
Savark’s house-parties, which was the only time Roquana Smuff
had
ever come close to
His
Lordship. Controlling the unfortunate
Roquana Smuff like
a puppet,
Inquisitor Tadler sent her to
speak to
Lord Savark, who was standing at
the top of the stairs looking down on
the decorous conversations taking place among
his guests.
“Roquana Smuff, under
the control of
Inquisitor Tadler, approached Lord Savark with
some fantastic tale
about
Jamal Fittlutt, and
when he turned to speak to
her, she launched
an unprovoked attack on
him
– on
the Father of
Sunday. I
hope members of this Holy Synod will forgive me if
what I have now to
say proves shocking in
the
extreme: under
the control of
Inquisitor
Tadler, Roquana Smuff raised her knee and
struck Lord Savark as hard as
she could in
the groin,
attacking our benefactor most indecently in
the
very essence of
his manhood.
Lord Savark
(Robert Maxwell,
tycoon & swindler)
“His Lordship collapsed, and
it is only by
the
very greatest good fortune that
he did not tumble down the stairs and
break his neck. Let us give thanks to
the gods, for they watched
over
him and preserved him.
“Roquana Smuff now sought out
Tommuz Crumptin,
told him – still under
the control of
Inquisitor
Tadler –
that
Lord Savark had attempted
to rape her and that
she had
been forced
to
attack him to
preserve her modesty –
hardly her virginity, for
that she had already given to
Tommuz Crumptin.
“Struck by
the enormity of
what she had
done,
Crumptin agreed to
take her
back to
her mother’s
house in
Beddleham, but, on
the way
there, she convinced him that her tale of
attempted rape was true, and
she also slandered all of
Lord
Savark’s guests: members of
the Senate, of
the League of
Purity,
and of
the High Court of
Justice. Not even
the
octogenarian
President of
the Bank of
Sunday escaped her calumny, for
– still
acting under
the control of
Inquisitor Tadler – she
convinced the
gullible Tommuz Crumptin that
this frail and
saintly old
man had
engaged in
perverted sexual
assaults on
young girls.
The Lord
President
of the Bank of Sunday
(George Baker, actor)
“On
their arrival at
Beddleham
Roquana Smuff
and Tommuz Crumptin sought the aid of
Mrs Smuff, whom
they also
persuaded to believe their slanderous allegations, and with
her help
were able to find transport to
New Jackrusselham. I have to admit
now that
I sincerely regret not
having tried to
persuade the merciful
Lord Savark to
pursue them, for
His Lordship, being, as we all
know, a
kindly and
generous man, was
all too inclined to
make
light of
his pain
and of
the very great danger that
Roquana Smuff’s
unprovoked
attack at the very top of the grand staircase had put his life in.
“When they reached New
Jackrusselham Sulamun
Tadler was ready to
put the
next part of his plan into action, for
by
now it had become nothing less than
a cunning scheme to
destabilize the
government of
Sunday and to
seize power for
himself.
“By
this stage, his constant repetition in
Roquana Smuff’s mind of
his version of
events had
left the poor
girl so confused that
she
really believed the false memories planted
there by
Inquisitor Tadler, and
her belief communicated itself to
the
infatuated Tommuz Crumptin, who was now as
deluded as she was.
“Sulamun Tadler was at last
able to
leave the
mind of
Roquana Smuff,
confident that she would continue to
believe his
version of
events and to
spread the lies, slanders and
calumnies that
he had devised. Using his position as a member of
the Holy
Inquisition he now sought an audience with
President Bananas, and,
when
it was granted, he used an Inquisition carriage to
bring Roquana Smuff
and
Tommuz Crumptin into
the Government Quarter.
“He took them to
see the President, where,
constantly prompted by
him,
they slandered Lord Savark, his family, his
whole household, his distinguished guests, and
even accused
Sunday’s best loved entertainer, Jamal Fittlutt, whose work with
orphans and
other deprived
children has
gained him
well-deserved
recognition as
a modern saint
– even Jamal Fittlutt was accused
of
the most disgusting
pederasty.
Old Bonita
Bananas,
President of Sunday
(Miranda Hart, actress)
“It is scarcely to
be wondered at
that our
beloved President was struck into
total paralysis by
these wild
accusations. She had agreed to meet with
an Inquisitor, one of
the guardians of
the ethos of
Sunday. He had brought with
him two
young people, who, under
his
influence, (though
the
President did not
know that), told her that
Lord Savark, the founder of
the Sunday
Development Corporation, the Father of
our Colony, and, as
President
of
the League of
Purity, the
wise and
moral inspiration of
our young
people – that
Lord
Savark himself presided over
wild orgies in
which naked Senators and
High
Court Judges cavorted with
young girls,
not
to mention young boys;
that
Jamal Fittlutt assaulted
underage girls
for
his own pleasure and for
the entertainment of
the aforementioned
Senators and
High Court
Judges; that
Lord Savark and
his guests watched
and
applauded while
His Lordship’s own son,
Sir Muckswill Savark,
stripped and
raped a
housemaid.
“Worse, much worse was yet to
come, for
Roquana Smuff, convinced by
the brainwashing to
which
Sulamun Tadler
had
subjected her, and
who, you will remember had
launched an
unprovoked attack on
His
Lordship which
left him
collapsed in
agony
and,
but for
the intervention of
the gods themselves, might have
resulted in
his death, now
told Her Excellency that
Lord
Savark had
attempted to
rape her, and
that she had been obliged to
resist.
“Even worse was
still to come, for
our
beloved
President, although already reeling with shock, was now informed that
the Tohu, who have attacked, killed and
eaten countless numbers of
our
citizens, were not carnivorous apes but humans, members of
our own race
whom Lord Savark had set out to
exterminate in order to
maximise
profits for
the Sunday
Development Corporation.
“Perhaps we should not blame
Roquana Smuff and
Tommuz Crumptin too harshly,
for
all this time they were mere puppets
acting under
the control of
Inquisitor Tadler – but
Sulamun
Tadler himself cannot have been unaware of
the effect of
his slanderous
calumnies on
the obviously
distressed President Bananas. Yet he
still continued with
his
campaign, even though
it was
clear that she
was on
the point of
collapse – such was his
determination to
undermine the legitimate government of Sunday and to seize power for
himself.
“Leaving the President
prostrated by
grief and
confusion, Sulamun Tadler next took his two puppets out of
the
Government Quarter and
sent
them back into
the city with
instructions
to stir up
the populace into
rioting and
anarchy, which
they
successfully did.
“The first atrocity was the
attack on
a
Government Guard who was on
patrol near
the
Pantheon. Stirred up
by
Roquana Smuff and
Tommuz Crumptin, a mob set on
the unfortunate
young man and beat him almost to
death, simply for being in
the service
of
the legitimate government
of Sunday. They also stole his
uniform, doubtless in order to
infiltrate the Guardroom, probably with
the intention of
throwing
open the gate so that
the mob
could invade
the Government Quarter, smash up
Government buildings, and
attack
Ministers and officials as
they went about
their
legitimate
business. I hope we have prevented that by
alerting the Guard
Commanders to
redouble
security along
the periphery of
the Government
Quarter, and
I can report that
a ferocious attack on
the gates by a
huge and
riotous mob led by
Roquana Smuff and Tommuz
Crumptin, was
repulsed by
the Guards.
“The next atrocity inspired by Inquisitor
Tadler and carried out by
a
mob inflamed by
Roquana Smuff
and
Tommuz
Crumptin, was an attack on
the Guild of
Eunuchs. As
we all know,
this peaceful brotherhood, who live a communal and
monastic existence
in
the humble and
semi-subterranean darkness of
the crypt beneath
the
Pantheon, have sacrificed their very manhood to
expunge from
their
lives every trace of
competitive aggression, of
lust, of
ambition. They are, in short, the truest exemplars of
the ethos
of
helpfulness, love and duty which
governs our colony here on
Sunday
and makes it so very different from
other, less civilised frontier
worlds.
“Despite this, a raging mob
battered down
the
great bronze doors of
the
crypt, invaded this holy and
sanctified place
of
prayer and contemplation, and
drove the brothers out with
kicks and
blows, pursuing them along
the street and throwing stones and
clods of
earth at
them. What has
happened to
the brothers we
do not know,
but
it is feared that some at
least have been driven out of
the city
and
into the wild woodland,
where they may fall prey to
the savage Tohu.
“Even harmless passers-by in
the street have
not been safe from
the
attacks of
these violent and
aggressive mobs of
rioting anarchists stirred up by
Roquana Smuff and
Tommuz
Crumptin
under
the malign influence of
Inquisitor Sulamun Tadler.
Lord
Savark’s cook, a respectable woman of
mature years and
not
inconsiderable girth – shee-hee-hee-hee
– was attacked by
a
raging mob, howling for
her
blood, and forced to flee for
her very life.
Mrs Bonpoint
(Unknown)
“We have suffered from
insurrection in
New
Jackrusselham, anarchy, violence and attempted murder on the streets of
our capital city – and
who is responsible? Inquisitor
Sulamun Tadler, who, misusing his powers as
one of
the guardians of
the
moral code of
Sunday, has
stirred up
the populace in
order to
seize
power for
himself, to make
himself ruler of
Sunday at
the head of
a
violent mob, and to
institute
a reign of
terror aimed at
the
elimination of
all members of
the Senate, the Ministries of
the Crown,
Holy Mother Church, the Holy Inquisition and
indeed this Holy Synod
itself. Has he not already started this reign of terror by
driving our beloved President into
a breakdown from
which it is
doubtful that she will ever
recover?
“For
such treason there can be only one
penalty, and
already several
ministers and prominent Senators have
urged me to
demand it –
death!
The constitution of
the
Commonwealth prescribes the death penalty for
treason, and
we can be
quite sure that
the Privy
Council will
insist on
it. Her Majesty
herself,
merciful lady though
she be, would insist on
the elimination
of
such a traitor, purely and
simply for
the protection of
her
subjects. That is why I – though
I do so with
great
reluctance – must insist that
the penalty for
Tadler’s
treacherous stirring up of
the violent forces of
anarchy
and disorder
with
the intention of
overthrowing the Government and
everything our
civilisation stands for,
has
to be death
– and that
his execution
should be carried out without
delay as
the only possible
means of
bringing to
an end the
insurrection he has called into being.
There were murmurs of agreement and
heads were
nodded as Gulls brought his speech to its triumphant close.
“There being no dissenting
voices,” he
honked, “I shall call in
the Government Guards to
take
Sulamun
Tadler back to
his cell and
make the necessary arrangements
for
his
execution.”
Having only a short time left, I
determined to write
this account of what had happened and, if possible, pass it to my
colleague, Dr Drow, in the hope that the truth would eventually emerge.
Please
remember that this
story is copyright.
See Copyright
and Concessions
for permitted uses.
***
Roquana:
Index.
Chapter
10: In the Crypt
Chapter
12: Constitutional issues
***
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