Star Wars on Trial by Keith R. A. DeCandido, David Brin, Tanya Huff, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Matthew Woodring Stover Page B

sincere; I believe we can safely assume that they are merely helpless dupes.
    Remember: treachery is the way of the Sith.
    Our best hope of justice in these proceedings is to remind you what this Court actually is. To remind you that that you are the jury. That the only opinion which matters here is yours. That these arguments take place not merely on these pages, but in your head.
    And in your heart.
    And so I will give you the only direct order you will ever get from the Defense. Don't place your trust in any of us.
    Trust in the Force, and only in the Force.
    That is, trust the voice of the life within you. Think for yourself.
    Trust love.
    Trust faith.
    May the Force be with this Court, and with us all.

    THE COURTROOM

    DROID JUDGE: Do you wish to comment or cross-examine, Mr. Prosecutor?
    DAVID BRIN: A moment, Your Honor. To recover from the Defense Attorney's personal style, and being told that I hold beliefs opposite to those I clearly stated. For the record, I never declined a saber duel with Mr. Stover. I'm likely twice his age, yet my rusty skills from the Caltech fencing team should suffice. At a sci-fi con? Bring it on, smart mouth.
    MATTHEW WOODRING STOVER: Cool! We can sell tickets! You have any idea how much fans'd pay to see this? Holy crap! And since being twice my age would have you pushing ninety, you seem remarkably, mm, well-preserved ... not that I find that in any way suspicious....
    DAVID BRIN: Well, I thought you were a whippersnapper, given your pushy style. Still. However old you are, you better stay off my lawn.... And turn down that damn boom box! Dang kids. Where's my saber....
    DROID JUDGE (sighing): Humans. The Court fines both of you five samoleads for immaturity. Now, do you have comments or questions about Mr. Stover's statement?
    DAVID BRIN: Well ... I expected the Defense to offer glowing praise for Star Wars. I'm sure my own chapter contains more positive statements about the series than Mr. Stover put in his!
    MATTHEW WOODRING STOVER: A measure of your innate fairness and nobility of character, sir.
    DAVID BRIN: Hm? Well. (shuffles papers) Still ... let's see. I'll skim past specific sophistries. Like the way Mr. Stover ignores the importance of moral discussion, diplomacy and restraint in the Star Trek universe, where such issues get hashed over perhaps too much.

    MATTHEW WOODRING STOVER: Maybe we can save that for a companion volume, eh?
    DAVID BRIN: Gotcha. (eyes glinting) In fact, I'll concede a point or two. For example, someone else reading the worthy books of Joseph Campbell may find exceptions to my brief (and therefore superficial) summarization. Also, I'll stipulate that supporting characters in Star Wars may look silly, rather than pretty. Good point. And a minor one. Like others that I'll defer answering till our online discussion, when the jurors (readers and fans) may join in.
    MATTHEW WOODRING STOVER: Sure. Let's also skip past minor points like I'm here as an advocate, not a witness, and I'm answering your questions as a courtesy. And for fun. Because I'm just friendly that way. I don't claim to be an expert on anything (not even martial arts, Del Rey Publicity's bio on me notwithstanding).
And while we're at it we can skip past the minor point that in your rush to defend Captain Nemo and Pvt. Ryan (neither of whom I was actually attacking, by the way, but merely enumerating as passing examples of how any work of art might be vulnerable to the Prosecution's style of attack), you never actually answered my question. Which, as a witness, you really should have, instead of making another speech (admittedly inspiringhey, my dad, my mom and three of my uncles served in the Big One, too) about citizen soldiers....
I seem to recall somebody once said something about how "the wicked flee where no man pursueth." And if we read wicked as merely an overly judgmental code word for, say, Sith...?
    DAVID BRIN: Code word .... for what? (pained expression) I can see this is going to be