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Triplication
by Robert Sheckley
Category: Science Fiction/Humor
Description: Oaxe II was a small, dusty, backward planet out near Orion. Its people were of Earth stock, and still adhered to Earth customs. Judge Abner Low was the sole source of justice upon the little planet. Most of his cases involved property lines and the ownership of pigs and geese, for the citizens of Oaxe II had little flair for crime. But one day a spaceship landed containing the notorious Timothy Mont and his lawyer, who had come to Oaxe II for sanctuary and justice. And another spaceship came, containing three policemen and a Public Prosecutor. Robert Sheckley (1928-2005) was a Hugo and Nebula nominated American author. First published in the science fiction magazines of the 1950s, his numerous quick-witted stories and novels were famously unpredictable, absurdist, and broadly comical. Sheckley was given the Author Emeritus honor by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2001.
eBook Publisher: Wildside Press, 1959 Playboy
eBookwise Release Date: August 2009
 
8 Reader Ratings:
Available eBook Formats: OEBFF Format (IMP) [15 KB]
Words: 1830
Reading time: 5-7 min.
OAXE II WAS A SMALL, dusty, backward planet out near Orion. Its people were of Earth stock, and still adhered to Earth customs. Judge Abner Low was the sole source of justice upon the little planet. Most of his cases involved property lines and the ownership of pigs and geese, for the citizens of Oaxe II had little flair for crime.
But one day a spaceship landed containing the notorious Timothy Mont and his lawyer, who had come to Oaxe II for sanctuary and justice. And another spaceship came, containing three policemen and a Public Prosecutor.
The Public Prosecutor stated, "Your Honor, this fiend has perpetrated a heinous crime. Timothy Mont, Your Honor, burned down an orphanage! Furthermore, he pleaded guilty before he fled. I have his signed confession."
Mont's lawyer, a pallid man with cold fish eyes, rose. "I request that you put aside sentence."
"I'll do no such thing," Judge Low said. "Burning an orphanage is a horrible crime."
"It is," the lawyer agreed, "in most places. But my client committed his act upon the planet Altira III. Is your Honor conversant with the customs of that planet?"
"No," said the judge.
"On Altira III," the lawyer said, "all orphans are trained in the art of assassination, for the purpose of reducing the population of neighboring planets. By burning the orphanage, my client saved thousands, perhaps millions of innocent lives. Therefore he must be considered a hero of the people."
"Is this true about Altira III?" the judge asked the court clerk.
The clerk looked up the facts in the Encyclopedia of Planetary Customs and Folklore, and found that it was indeed true.
Judge Low said, "Then I dismiss this case."
Mont and his lawyer left, and life droned peacefully on, on Oaxe II, disturbed only by an occasional lawsuit involving property lines, or the ownership of pigs and geese. But within a year Timothy Mont and his lawyer were back in court, with the Public Prosecutor following close behind them.
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