TST guards led Donahue, Porter, Masters, and Sanders to a medium-size room and directed them to a row of four chairs at the left-hand table facing the head table, where a woman sat reading over some papers. The four men also saw a man and a woman sitting at the right-hand table. More TST guards stood at both sets of doors on either side of the head table. A flagpole in a stand off to the side bore a flag which read, “Don't Tread On Me!” on a black field with a golden serpent coiled beneath the words, apparently ready to strike. A partially filled gallery sat behind the adjacent tables in the courtroom-like diorama.

Donahue sat impassively, waiting to see what might happen. The others followed his lead, although Masters's face showed considerable agitation.

“Right,” the woman at the head table said as she put down the papers she had been reviewing. “I am Rhonda Williams, arbiter from the Agorist Arbitration Association, assigned to these cases. Will the parties please identify themselves?”

The woman at the right-hand table spoke up. “Alice, from the Agorist Underground. My colleague, Jacob, and I represent a list of complaining parties, including the United Merchant's Agora, the Taipan Tradewinds restaurant, Justin Knight, Paul Regan, The Security Team, and a TST guard named Parker.”

Rhonda nodded and turned her attention to the other table. No one spoke for a moment, but the other three men turned their attention to Donahue.

After a moment, he said, “What are we doing here?”

Rhonda replied, “These people represent others who have brought complaints against you four. I asked for your identities.”

Donahue scoffed and said, “You're not a judge. This isn't a court of law. We don't have to tell you anything.”

Rhonda raised her eyebrows as she picked up four packets from the table in front of her. “These papers brought before me say otherwise. They include contracts you signed with TST under which they admitted you to their facility. In those contracts, you agreed to use us as arbiters, thereby binding your agreement. Do you deny signing them?”

Donahue sat still and said nothing.

Rhonda continued, “In these papers, you agreed to use the Agorist Arbitration Association as arbiters should a problem arise under the contract. By signing, you gave us the authority to arbitrate in this case. The names listed in your contracts are Waldrip, Randolph, Jameson, and Smith. Are those your names?”

Donahue shrugged, but refused to answer, and his buddies continued to follow his lead, also saying nothing.

“Madam Arbiter,” Alice said, “we have reason to believe that these four men lied when they signed their contracts with the UMA. We have evidence that they supplied false identification with a deliberate intention to deceive. Their actual names are Donahue, Porter, Masters, and Sanders, and they are employed by the Hanover-Rush bank.”

Rhonda again raised her eyebrows and asked the four men, “Are these allegations true?”

Donahue waved his hand in dismissive disgust, but continued to say nothing.

After giving them a long, silent moment to respond, Rhonda said, “Gentlemen, if you refuse to answer even these most basic questions, then I must rule that the allegations raised by complainants regarding your identities are true and valid by default. Alice, what complaints do your clients bring against Donahue, Porter, Masters, and Sanders?”

“Madam Arbiter, we allege that all four of these men violated their contracts with TST by misrepresenting their identities at the time of contractual agreement. We allege that these four men stole kitchen knives from the Taipan Tradewinds restaurant. We allege that they attacked TST guard Parker and stole his Glock 22 automatic after Donahue hit Parker with a knockout punch that left Parker with a severe concussion, after which they dumped Parker's unconscious body in a locked closet. We allege that these four men attended a broadcast event where they used the knives and the handgun to attempt to carry out an attack on Justin Knight and Paul Regan with the intention of murdering those two people. And on behalf of the United Merchants Agora, we charge that these four men intentionally disrupted the private, peaceful conduct of business on their premises.”

Rhonda nodded and replied, “That's quite a list of charges. How do you respond to those charges, gentlemen? Do you dispute them?”

Donahue spat in disgust on the floor. “We dispute this whole proceeding! You have no right to try us!”

“I see. So you refuse to address the charges made against you. Very well. As arbiter assigned to this case, I hereby find for the complainants. Also, since this case clearly shows the perpetrators bear no remorse for their deeds and have demonstrated no willingness to make up for those deeds, I hereby order double-indemnity as penalty. I have decided upon damages to be paid for each of the complaints. I'll have a complete report for both parties within the hour, which will detail those damage amounts. The sum total of damages owed by you four gentlemen total 5,800 gold ounces. With double-indemnity, that increases the total to 11,600 gold ounces, which at current exchange rates equals roughly 11.6 million fiat dollars. Respondents hereby lose their liberty of movement until they make restitution. Complainants are hereby empowered to hold respondents until they make full restitution, at respondents' expense.”

“This hearing is concluded,” she said as she hammered the table once with her gavel.

“Eleven million dollars!” Porter shouted in a shocked voice.

“Can it,” Donahue said. “These people can't do anything. They have no legal authority.”

“On the contrary,” said Jacob from the other table. “You just lost your liberty. We can now hold you until you pay up. You must also pay for the security costs associated with holding you, in addition to the judgment the arbiter issued today for your deeds. If you fail to pay, we will force you to work at a reasonable wage until you pay in full. If you still refuse to work, we will deny you food and drink. Ten thousand gold ounces, gentlemen. Looks like you plan to stay with us for the rest of your lives!”

“YOU SONS OF BITCHES!” Masters spat at the room. “YOU CAN'T GET AWAY WITH THIS QUASI-LEGAL CRAP!”

His four colleagues joined in the noisemaking. TST guards approached the four, applied more plastic handcuffs to them, and removed them from the room, with each of the four men loudly voicing their displeasure.