Ternan Childress died in a space suit accident recently, leaving behind his wife, Soong Myoung. Although their marriage seemed on the surface to be an awkward attempt to bond the two families through wedlock, Ternan and Myoung truly loved each other, despite their differences in upbringing, culture and age (Ternan died at age 55, while his wife was 29).

Neither family saw things in such a good light, however. The Childresses dismissed the marriage as the mad middleage urge of a senile family head, and many of the Childresses took pains to make Myoung unwelcome in the family quarters after Ternan's death. The Soongs, on the other hand, were mortified by the theft of their most beautiful daughter, and any respect they may have had for Ternan (who had made great efforts, aside from his love life, to mend the breach between the families) was overwhelmed by the Childresses' treatment of Myoung after Ternan's regrettable death. In the months following Ternan's funeral, relations between the two families steadily worsened, but violence was never considered an option.

Then, a few days ago, both sides suffered the last straw. Myoung was found dead in her quarters, strangled. The law of the station permitted each family to take care of internal affairs without interference from the other, but in this case, not only was Myoung considered both a Childress and a Soong, but both families accused each other of the murder. After reviewing the forensics evidence (gathered by Childress family employees), the station's appointed magistrate (also a Childress) ruled the death to be a suicide.

The Soongs went wild. In the ensuing confrontation, weapons were drawn, shots were fired, and nearly twenty people were wounded or killed. The families are now barricaded in their quarters, and are busily planning the extermination of the other side.

The Soongs stand firm in their belief that a member of the Childresses killed Myoung out of spite and that the family has closed ranks to protect their own. The Childresses, on the other hand arc sure that Myoung was killed by her own family, partially as an example to the other Soong children of the price of disobedience, and as an excuse to seize full control of the station.

Captive Jury Jovian Chronicles Murder Mystery Adventure

Introduction
The Crime
The Trial
Data Files and Judge's Bench