TCD 2018 Killing Hitler

Walter Koenig stood in the dock, his head down. Three days worth of stubble shadowing his lower face, his dark hair lank and shining with that unwashed, greasy look. His blue eyes focusing on the ground 6 feet in front of him as he replied in monotones to confirm his name, address and, finally to enter the plea of guilty.

The judges shook their heads, their stern expressions perhaps giving the verdict they would arrive at before any of the evidence had been heard. There was to be no jury in this trial. The attempted assassination of a head of state, the Chancellor of Germany, no less, required a trial that was held in secret, with no press intrusion and justice needed to be swift, sure and final.

His lawyer, a young man who looked barely out of law school, coughed nervously and stood up. His own suit rumpled, his brown eyes ferret- like as he looked about the small court room, knowing he had no chance to actually defend his client, for it was all there, for anyone to see. He was, in short, a typical public defender, out of law school without the grades necessary to be snapped up by a big law firm and only able to complete his pupillage by going into government service.

Where a well known and established barrister might have been able to create a name for himself by defending a man against such an outrageous charge, there was no upside for a lowly public defender who would later rely on patronage from the judicial system by upsetting this particular apple cart.

The long, drawn breath seemed to take an age in the stifling heat of the wood panelled court room and finally he said, “My Lords, the defendant acknowledges his guilt, to whit, that on July the third, in the year of our Lord, nineteen hundred and twenty six, he did attempt, in the town of Weimar, in the state of Thuringia, to assassinate the ReichsFuhrer, Adolf Hitler with a shot from a Mauser Model 1898.” He paused, looking down at the desk before him, placed one sheet of paper atop another and resumed. “It was only the intervention of a state security agent that saw the shot miss and the defendant arrested. My client can offer no defence save to say that he believed that his target would cause untold suffering to untold millions and he felt it was his duty to prevent this and as such, it is the defence's contention that his actions should fall under the law as it pertains to “self defence or defence of another.”

He sat then, Koenig looked up hopefully, he was sure that self defence applied to others and who could deny that the man he had tried to kill was responsible for so many deaths? Surely he had a glimmer of hope...His heart sank when he looked up and saw the stern face of the senior judge and he swallowed again.

After a brief recounting of the events leading up to his arrest by the prosecutor, the judges conferred at the bench and delivered their verdict in cold, emotionless terms.

“It is the view of the court that the defendant is guilty as charged and, furthermore, that the request to take the motive of self defence be struck from the record.” The senior judge took a long moment, his red cheeks giving a visual clue to the anger that burned within him until he finally composed himself enough to speak again. “Mister Koenig, since the relaxation of temporal travel laws enabling tourism, this court, and, may I say, many like it have been inundated with cases of well meaning idiots who thought they could go back in time and rewrite history. His Majesty's government has had to spend substantial amounts of taxpayer's money to ensure that the historical time line remains uncorrupted. When you signed the disclaimer for your trip, you acknowledged the requirement to remain an observer and accepted anything beyond that would be a criminal offence. This court has no option but to sentence you to banishment. Due to the prevalent nature of time travel in our society, it is the court's intention that you be sent to the penal colony of Pitcairn Island in the year fifteen hundred BCE there to remain for the rest of your natural life.”

The gavel fell with a crack like a rifle shot and the senior judge looked down as a screaming Koenig was dragged to the transport tube by two burly court bailiffs.

“Oh god, another bloody Hitler one.” The judge whispered to his colleagues “Does no one ever think of going back in time to do anything but try and kill the odious little man?”

Fin.

Good story very creative S&F

a reply to: SprocketUK

Nice twist on the ol' go back and kill Hitler cliche! Although, living on an island without all the hassles of the modern world wouldn't be too bad of a punishment for me!

Thanks both, and yeah, maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing. Though if you left family behind...

a reply to: SprocketUK

Smart story line!

a reply to: SprocketUK
That was terrific. I loved it the twist. Well done!

S&F

Liked the scene setting and descriptive character building....and of course the time travel !

More!

Great tale! Sorta in the gendra of earl Asimov and Lovecraft. Reminds me of a twist in Asimov's " Silly Asses " story from 1958. That stuff was timeless. Keep at er.

a reply to: SprocketUK

Well, that story certainly got me interested. I like a bit of Sci Fi.

Cheers Sprocket.

regards,

Bally

a reply to: Osirisvset

I reckon so. Something along the line of Escape from Pitcairn - Fifteen Hundred BCE

bally

S+F

A well written and interesting short story.

I'm swamped with work and going into overdrive. Haven't had a chance to read this yet. But I dug your July story - about the captain lady, right? - so I'm gonna drop a S+F and will be back to check it out buddy.

Thanks folks and you showed a lot of trust DofE (Yeah it was abot the Navy Captain)

Time travel and Hitler considered next to off, nice work.

a reply to: PillarOfFire

Thanks

Well executed....nyuk nyuk nyuk...

I liked it very much.

a reply to: Vroomfondel

Cheers