Franz Jiminez #1:
The Genetic Bait and Switch
Brendan Dillon
Franz Jiminez awoke from his slumber, flipped upright, and switched off the null-grav generators. Sleeping in zero-G allowed him to save a great deal of time in the mornings; he could prepare for the day before "bed" the night before, and awake already fully dressed, without so much as a wrinkle in his three-piece suit. Within seventeen seconds of attaining consciousness, he had laser-brushed his teeth, grabbed a breakfast chimichanga that was cooked on an autotimer, and was out the door. Franz had trained himself for years to condense his morning ritual, and felt that it was well worth the extra twenty-six minutes of sleep it allowed him each morning.
Today, however, was no ordinary day for Franz. This day would mark his return to the courtroom after fourteen years of pursuing other fields. Nor was today's case like any other he had argued before. Franz would be defending the notorious mobster Victor Tanagra, a man accused of laundering the entire economic output of a small Eastern European nation; a man Franz knew was guilty.
But there were more important things at stake here than guilt or innocence. Though Tanagra was well known to be a despicable example of the species homo sapiens, deserving of any punishment the legal system was capable of giving him, it was not as widely known that a conviction today would lead to a disaster of epic proportions. Franz ordered his driver to bring him to the courthouse, swallowed the last bite of his chimichanga and washed it down with his sense of justice.
Witnesses, reporters, spectators, and refugees filed into the courtroom. The dull chatter present in all directions sounded much like a crowd of people repeating the word "rhubarb" to each other continuously. Finally the judge brought his gavel crashing down, paradoxically silencing the room with more noise. Assistant D.A. Charlene Thacker began to deliver her opening statement.
"A great tragedy has occurred in the nation of Moldonistria. Its government, finding its ability to run the country growing ever lesser, was forced to turn towards organized crime syndicates for support. As the nation's reliance on the mob grew, it required even greater support in order to keep its officials loyal and the connection quiet. The spiral effect continued until Moldonistria's mob debts exceeded its gross domestic product. When it came time to collect on these debts, the entire nation was stripped clean; every penny in its banks, every grain on its farms, every thread in its emerging textile industry was smuggled out. The Moldonistrians found themselves with nothing to support their own existence, and within six months, over 400,000 people -- ninety-three percent of its population -- had starved to death.
"Today, we will present the overwhelming amount of evidence which proves that the defendant, Victor Tanagra, masterminded this entire operation. The blood of an entire nation is on his hands."
During Thacker's statement, Jiminez slowly sipped a glass of water. He poured a second glass for Tanagra, taking great care to ensure that no one noticed the tablet he slipped into his client's glass.
As the district attorney returned to her seat, Franz rose to make his statement. "Ladies and gentlemen, I must agree with Ms. Thacker's assessment of this situation. The events of last year in Moldonistria were the work of a man whose very existence is fueled by avarice. And the evidence which the prosecution will present is quite conclusive. After careful review, I found nothing to indicate that another party could be responsible."
A gasp rose from the courtroom, and if the defendant's eyes could have fired daggers, Jiminez would have quickly been lying in a pool of his own blood. He ignored these reactions and continued. "People of the jury, I am not here to prove that Victor Tanagra is innocent of these crimes. His guilt is evident. Rather, I will prove to you today that my client is not, in fact, Victor Tanagra!"
The gasps became a roar of commotion. The judge brought his gavel down, called for a recess and ordered both legal teams to his chambers.
"What the hell are you doing?" Tanagra whispered as Jiminez returned to the table. "Who's going to believe that I'm someone else?"
"The law, that's who," Franz replied. "Before my statement, I poured you a drink of water. In that drink, I dissolved a series of nanobots. Even as we speak, those nanobots are swarming through your body and resequencing your genetic code. The police have samples of your DNA from a number of sources; when the judge finds that your DNA doesn't match any of them, he'll have no choice but to authorize your release."
Tanagra appeared shocked. "That's brilliant. But why would you do this? Why are you even defending me? You're Franz fucking Jiminez. You've devoted your life to getting rid of people like me."
"That's true," said Franz. "But there are larger matters at hand. My sources have discovered that your greatest criminal rival, Andrei 'The Chameleon' Rapinski, has obtained samples of a deadly plague from former Soviet biological weapon stockpiles. His people have attempted to engineer it to infect only the Tangara family, which would wipe out you and your power base and make Rapinski the most powerful syndicate boss in the world. But the reengineering didn't work. If the virus is released, it will spread throughout the globe, causing the end of human civilization. And you, Victor, are the only person who knows Rapinski well enough to find and destroy the samples."
At Jiminez' request, a DNA test was performed, and Victor Tanagra was found not to be himself. He was subsequently released, and all charges were dropped. But Franz Jiminez was not finished with him yet.
"Tanagra!" he yelled as he raced down the courthouse steps.
"Ah, Mr. Jiminez," Tanagra replied as he turned towards his attorney. "I wanted to thank you for your work this morning. You are truly as amazing as they say you are."
"Just remember this," Jiminez said quietly. "You may have gotten away with this in the eyes of the law, but not from me. For now, our interests coincide. But one day, I will make certain that you are brought to justice... one way or another."
"Perhaps," said Tanagra. "Perhaps."