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[Apollo-Soyuz]

Could this be Mr Graves himself? Or Rando?

I'm guessing Claud. Is it illegal to practice law without a license on Luna?

And what's with the second panel? No attorney-client privilege? The same two pigs that beat the crap out of Nicole have time to eavesdrop?

[macsnafu]

Could this be Mr Graves himself? Or Rando?

And what's with the second panel? No attorney-client privilege? The same two pigs that beat the crap out of Nicole have time to eavesdrop?

Good point.  Whether or not they have the authority to eavesdrop doesn't stretch credibility, but whether or not they actually have the time to do so does!  But they may not be ordinary beat cops if they were called into the situation specifically to "handle" Nicole. 

[Apollo-Soyuz]

Good point.  Whether or not they have the authority to eavesdrop doesn't stretch credibility, but whether or not they actually have the time to do so does!  But they may not be ordinary beat cops if they were called into the situation specifically to "handle" Nicole. 

D'oh, compare page=316 with page=332 . The guy cop looks close enough to be the same but the lady would have to had changed her hair color.  (possible, but unlikely)

[Scott]

They're two different pairs of cops.

[Andreas]

Could this creep be any more obvious?
Also, called it! :p

Oh wait, the former sort of makes the latter not so spectacular 

[Tucci78]

Could this creep be any more obvious?

The estimable Senor Bustamante?

Whoever he's holding when he pees, he's definitely on the side of the Bad Guys.

"You are traveling with the famous Seamus O'Murchadha. If you can show that you're also a scientist, and not just some kind of personal assistant ... "

Oh, goodie yet again. Nicole just joined the Brotherhood of Sun-Shooters, becoming a celebrity (not only famous but also rich) all to hellangone over human-inhabited space.

What kind of "personal assistant" is engaged by anybody to undertake that kind of high-value, high-risk job?

"I need something current. Perhaps, if you could describe the nature of the project you're working on with Dr. O'Murchadha ... "

Yeah, sure, Herberto.  Someting "current."

While you're groping around down there, yank the other one.  It'll play you a rendition of "Begin the Beguine."

[macsnafu]

Darn, so he isn't what he seems to be.  Should've guessed, with one eye bigger than the other.  But Nicole needs some help from somewhere.

[Andreas]

Darn, so he isn't what he seems to be.  Should've guessed, with one eye bigger than the other.  But Nicole needs some help from somewhere.

Nicole ain't got no problem, Jules. She's on to the mother******. She'll go back in there, chill them loonies out and wait for the Shay who should be coming directly... in seven days tops.

"Over my dead body" goes a long way, if you believe it yourself.

[Sieggy]

. . . Julie Neapolitano? <snicker> And I'm forced to wonder about their relationship, too. Husband / wife judges? His face strikes me as familiar, but I can't place him . . . not Scalia.

Herberto's expression when he finds out about the change in judges is priceless. I suspect there's some backstory there that will hopefully come out down the line . . . I noticed that every time Herberto is asked about whether he represents Nicole, he always starts with <er>, which to me indicates that he KNOWS that he's potentially stepping into a bear trap. As regulation bound as Luna is, I would suspect the penalties for a lawyer misrepresenting himself to a client with intent to misrepresent said client in furtherance of fraud would be SEVERE. And since this is now a matter of record, when Nicole gets through with him, he is possibly looking at being disbarred, not to mention Smith & Holder being a tad miffed that Herberto misrepresented himself as being part of THEIR firm. There's no way to keep this quiet, either, since Claude has him on vid as claiming to represent Nicole.

Omega-Tek may pull a lot of strings, but this may be one case where they cut all strings and try to ensure that they don't get enmeshed in the developing imbroglio. Now that Nicole is having her arraignment, Claude can visit her, not to mention the REAL S&H lawyers who will probably have her bonded out tout suite. That's one thing about an authoritarian society - their judiciary does NOT take kindly to people screwing with them, and come down really hard on those who do, especially if there's (embarrassing) publicity entailed. And Nicole is at least a minor current celebrity, so Claude has a REALLY juicy story to run with. I suspect much hilarity is about to ensue . . .

[Tucci78]

. . . Julie Neapolitano? <snicker> And I'm forced to wonder about their relationship, too. Husband / wife judges? His face strikes me as familiar, but I can't place him . . . not Scalia.

Jeez, newbies.

(1) Andrew Napolitano
(see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Napolitano )

(2) Janet Napolitano
(see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_Napolitano )

The former is a notable libertarian whose popular talk show (Freedom Watch) on Fox Business channel was dropped "...in February 2012 when FBN revamped its entire primetime lineup." 

The latter is our Mombasa Messiah's "Liberal" fascist Gruppenführer der Heimatsicherheitsdienst, of whom L. Neil Smith has observed an uncanny resemblance to the character of Dolores Jane Umbridge in the Harry Potter stories.

They are in no way related.  Those of us whose ethnic heritage is in il Mezzogiorno are familiar with the ways in which certain patronymics - especially deriving from place names, like "Naples" - are held in common by people with no traceable family relationship. 

It's kinda like "Johnson" and "Smith" and "Jones" among the anglophones.

[ELeeMacFall]

I was going to post a thread saying something like "Hey that Antonio Neopolitian looks and talks an awful lot like Andrew Napolitano!" But then I realized that I can't start threads yet with my new account.

So then I was going to come in here and say it, but Tucci had to go and spoil my fun. Oh well.  

[NotDebonair]

Y'know, it would be a normal precaution for any major economic player in the system, Dr. Seamus O Murchada ferinstance, to have a few really top lawyers on retainer in a few vital locations where he might need one.  I wonder if Judge Antonio Neapolitan accepted a large retainer from the Doctor a century or two ago?  Certainly, he can do his clients much more good where he is now than as mere counsel.

[macsnafu]

Y'know, it would be a normal precaution for any major economic player in the system, Dr. Seamus O Murchada ferinstance, to have a few really top lawyers on retainer in a few vital locations where he might need one.  I wonder if Judge Antonio Neapolitan accepted a large retainer from the Doctor a century or two ago?  Certainly, he can do his clients much more good where he is now than as mere counsel.

Well, it certainly seems like a fortunate coincidence that the judges got changed, doesn't it?  More than one person seems to be in the background pulling strings.

[MirrorField]

Could this be Mr Graves himself? Or Rando?

I'm guessing Claud. Is it illegal to practice law without a license on Luna?

And what's with the second panel? No attorney-client privilege? The same two pigs that beat the crap out of Nicole have time to eavesdrop?

My suspicion is that this is utterly illegal. Mr. Graves et al. simply have few corrupt cops on their payroll.

And unless something drastic happens, I think our fake attorney is probably going to simply disappear after suitable face-change.

[MirrorField]

If this is the case, Nicole is in serious trouble. Not in legal trouble, but extrajudicial trouble as in "people running this op are effectively above the law". Which would also mean that Seamus grossly underestimated the societal degeneration of Luna and/or Mr. Bobinardi plays much rougher than I've expected (as in 'KGB Rules' instead of more genteel industrial espionage).

More comics, better background info. Apparently lunarian judicial system is not completely corrupt and OmegaTek (along Mr. Graves and his merry men) doesn't (at least yet) have intelligence-agency level of pull. So much depends on how rough our adversaries are willing and able to play...

What Nicole now should do is to make sure that her 'one tel call' to S&H Resolutions doesn't get misdirected or otherwise wasted, let her real lawyer do the work and simply sit tight with zipped lips until Seamus gets back to the game.

ObComment: I sure hope that afterwards there will be exchange somewhat in vein of:

Seamus: "Those Cheez charges were utterly false, I hope?"
Nicole: "Of course. Do you think I'm crazy enough to actually do that sort of crap?"
Seamus: "Okay, I trust you. Do keep away from that sort of sh*t, it's a firing offense."