Judge Mercer leaned forward, resting her fists on the granite table:
“Ethan Arthur Mercer-Vance is the sole surviving direct lineal custodian of Chief Master Surveyor Arthur Mercer Senior.”
“And Leo Arthur Mercer-Vance is his recognized biological heir.”
“Which means under federal maritime chancery law…”
Judge Mercer pointed her cane toward us:
“…Ethan Vance and Leo Vance are the joint, registered sovereign fee-simple owners of Conduit Ten.”
“And under Section Nine of the Rivers and Harbors Act of Eighteen-Ninety-Nine…”
“No commercial lease…”
“No private equity conveyance…”
“And no Swiss defense transfer can be executed without the wet-ink consent of the registered fee-simple owners.”
Chief Justice Arthur Sterling-Vance slowly, agonizingly rose from his leather executive chair.
He stood six feet three inches tall, his black judicial robe hanging from his broad shoulders as if his skeleton had just been liquefied by high-pressure steam.
His silver hair was disheveled; his eyes were wild, burning with an unholy, volcanic fury that stripped away forty years of aristocratic supremacy:
