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homicidal monster”—and calls for my execution. Half-way through her diatribe, the crowd begins clapping softly and rhythmically, and by the time she finishes they’re stomping their feet in acclaim. No one calls out or says anything. The beat reverberates in the room, ringing off my polyglass cage, vibrating through me. It’s eerie and hypnotic at the same time.
    I give Vestor a frightened look and he silences the crowd with a ringing, “Balderdash!” The clapping and stomping falter and he follows up with, “Utter poppycock! From her fantastical ravings, I can only think Prosecutor Babbage inhaled a little Psyche with her cereal this morning.”
    There’s a titter of laughter, and the judge—who didn’t bother to stop the clapping and stomping, I noticed—bangs his gavel and bellows, “Silence.  Silence, or I will clear all spectators from the courtroom. This is a court of law, not a comic entertainment. Counselor Vestor, you will cease speculating about Prosecutor Babbage’s personal habits.”
    Vestor is enough of a showman to wait a beat before saying with faux gravity, “Of course, your Honor. No more comments about the prosecutor’s diet or drug habits.”
    This earns him muffled laughter, quickly suppressed as Judge Tysseling glares. Vestor launches into his final statement before the judge can chastise him again. “Jurors, Everly Jax’s only crime, if crime you can call it, is impetuousness and a lack of judgment I think we can say is typical of sixteen-year-olds. She ran away from InKubator 9—yes, but only in an attempt to use her scientific gifts for the good of Amerada.”
    He gestures broadly as he talks about my research and my love for Amerada which led me to find the RESCO when I escaped from Bulrush and volunteer as a surrogate. He builds up Dr. Malabar’s and Minister Fonner’s reputations and quotes from their testimony, emphasizing that the implantation never took. He commands everyone to look at me and I feel the pressure of hundreds of pairs of eyes drilling into me as he asks if I look like a killer or a young innocent subjected to the brutality of outlaw captors.
    The crowd remains quiet. Shuffling feet and a few mutters are the only sounds. Vestor’s doing his best, but I can feel that the crowd is not interested in my acquittal. They’re primed for blood. Only a death sentence will appease them. I catch sight of Zestina Pye where she sits at the far end of the gallery. She’s leaning forward, watching Vestor, but then she meets my gaze and I think I see both anticipation and a hint of pity in her eyes.
    Vestor pauses and then comes out from behind his podium. He makes a slow 360-degree turn, black robe belling out.  He locks eyes with the judge, the jurors, and the spectators in turn. The only one he doesn’t look at is me.  I grip my hands together so tightly my knuckles gleam white.
    “To prove to all of you what a fervent patriot she is, when she is cleared of these ridiculous charges, Everly Jax has volunteered to return to the RESCO to be a surrogate for Amerada!”
    “No!” I slap my hands against the cool polyglass. They sting.
    My strangled cry is drowned by the babble of conversation and even a smattering of applause. Vestor seizes the opportunity afforded by the hubbub to look up at me, a message I can’t decipher in his black-rimmed eyes. Has he betrayed me, or does he think this is the only way to save my life? I don’t care—I will not enter the RESCO and be turned into a drugged surrogacy machine, popping out babies until I’m all used up. I can’t do it. I’m panting, my mouth slightly open, but no air seems to reach my lungs and I feel dizzy.
    Judge Tysseling regains order and dismisses the jurors to confer on my fate. I had hoped that Vestor and I could retire to a private room to await their return so I could have it out with him, but my transparent cage remains aloft.  I want to sink down and hide my head in my hands, but pride keeps me