A Sequel to 2005
an excerpt

Part Zero: Trials and Errors

It was, by all accounts, supposed to be an open and shut case. The media had laid everything out for the people of the city. What with all the destruction and the murder of her son, it was apparent that Mona Niwor would find herself with a lengthy jail sentence. But, you know what happens when you assume things.

For one thing, there were no laws on any books at the city, state, or federal level that dealt with the manipulation of weather. Nor was there any precedent for the construction of secret laboratories or the high-speed underground train system that connected them, and in fact the public benefited from this as it became the basis for the city’s new subway system.

The big thing was that when it came to the murder, she was acquitted without a second thought. The lone witness to show up at the trial, the mysterious masked Beowulf, was unwilling or unable to provide anything of use to convict her. There was no body, as the cell that Peter had died in was not handed over to the authorities, the investigators were not allowed access to the secret headquarters of the local hero, and Mona’s slick lawyer was able to exploit these details as well as the fact that Beowulf was unwilling to reveal his real identity to the court.

Mona Niwor walked away with nothing more than a fine for endangerment of students. She did not pay it.