Alien Jury Duty: A Short Story (English Edition) [Kindle-editie] beoordelingen het boek quotes

Justice on planet Sextus has devolved from orderly court proceedings into a form of vile entertainment for the masses whose increasingly aggressive tendencies threaten the reign of Queen Lacaille. When winter session of high court concludes with the execution of a female murderer and an alien juror forced to spin ‘the wheel’ in a high-stakes game of Russian roulette, Judge Altair relishes the prophecy of doom uttered by the dying alien because morbid curiosity will attract more television viewers for the court’s spring session. Days before spring session is to open, Cabral arrives from the gambling planet and agrees to serve as a juror in order to secure work capable of providing financial security for his family. Although vague concepts such as chance and randomness have no place in the rigid, analytical mind of a mathematician, Cabral relies on the combination of luck and skill to stay alive in a ‘winner-take-all’ battle against sadistic Judge Altair. When all seems lost, an unlikely ally in the courtroom emerges with a fantastic story and offer to aid Cabral: but can the man desperate to escape a pending death sentence be trusted? (The story is approximately 8000 words and 28 pages).