Duty and Obligation

by Sean Benjamin

  Yardley dropped her head with her eyes closed. She nodded in response but didn’t look up. “I don’t know any lawyers here.”

  “You’ll get a list of local attorneys, and you can do some interviews. They can interview you too. Some of them won’t want to be involved in this case so will pass on representing you, but you’ll get someone. He or she will be local, but there are no Royal Navy criminal attorneys here, so a Royal Navy officer will be appointed as prosecutor, so it is an even match.”

  Yardley nodded again. She ran through the problem caused by local jurisdiction. If the trial was by judge alone, no way a Royal Navy captain lets her off easy. She could probably opt for a jury trial. Maybe it would be other Royal Navy officers or a jury taken from the local population. Royal Navy officers would convict her easily. The local people would be farmers, small business owners, and their spouses. With their recent experience with the Sunrise Grange, they would be anti-corporation. Small town folks like them would have a visceral reaction to slavery. Once they saw images of the slaves and their hidden jail, they would want to stone her. Yardley looked up at Hawkins. Her face was drawn, and she looked like she had aged ten years in the last five minutes. Hawkins knew why. She thought she would get a free pass from all this and had just learned her erstwhile saviors were cutting her adrift. Hawkins could sympathize to an extent. He had seen more than a few people learn that lesson here.

  “After you get a lawyer, there will be formal charges made, and a trial date set.”

  Yardley nodded and looked at him. “My ship and crew?”

  “The crew will be cut loose with a severe warning.” Rafe gave her a slight smile. “I understand Ringo already gave her warning. Trust me when I say she and the rest of Pirate Flotilla One should be taken seriously. We will kill them if we come across them again in slavers. I understand you got to see that close-up and personal.

  “Your officers will have all their papers pulled by the maritime commission headquartered on Lorelei and will be banned from shipboard officer billets in this region. Ringo gets the cargo, and I claim the ship under my letters of marque and reprisal.”

  “How did you make that logic work?” Yardley knew of Hawkins’ war against the Goths, but her ship was registered under a flag of convenience on a planet in the Aurora Empire. Tristan was not owned by the Goths or any of their corporations in any way.

  “You were carrying cargo for several Goth companies.” Yardley nodded in agreement with that statement. She had building supplies for Necessity, electronics for various projects, tools for mining companies, and other such material. Hawkins continued. “This means the Goths benefit from your ship. Therefore, taking away the ship causes them hardship, and that is what I am here to do.”

  Yardley frowned. She didn’t agree with the logic but was hardly in a position to argue. Regardless of what happened to her ship, she wouldn’t be the captain. She still was concerned. After all, she loved her ship and wanted her to survive and prosper. She decided to change topics. “So, after giving me all this bad news, I assume you want to offer me a deal. Provide information on the slave running system for a shorter sentence?”

  Hawkins shook his head. “No deal. I was here to talk to Greg Paulsen when the AC message came in and decided to meet you and give you the message.”

  “Gloat over our capture and take delight in telling me the worst-case scenario?”

  Again, Hawkins shook his head. “My team has been taking slavers for years. No gloating involved anymore. And what is happening to you right now is not worst-case scenario.” He paused in thought and then concluded, “It is third worst.”

  “How so?” Yardley was curious. What was going on now seemed like worst-case to her.

  “The worst scenario was Ringo killing you in your own cargo bay. I’m still somewhat surprised she didn’t do that. You should thank Measure 200 for that reprieve. Ringo wants to see how Measure 200 is used to get people like you off their ships and into prison. This is a test case for her and many of my other captains. They will let justice take its course and the results will guide their actions in the future. If you walk on this, they will consider Measure 200 a failure, and all of them will go back to killing people like you on sight. You should be thankful you are the first case for the new law. Without that law, she kills you instantly in your cargo bay. I guarantee it. You are captain of a ship modified to be a permanent slave hauler. No way Ringo lets that pass.” Yardley recalled Ringo giving her a long, cold look when the slaves came to light, and then the pirate captain casually shooting the second officer a few moments later. Yardley now realized she had come much closer to death than she had previously thought.

  She decided to comment on that. “You talk of trying me before a judge or jury. That is a new approach by you and your people. Killing crewmembers in cargo bays seems to be your preferred method of justice.”

  Hawkins smiled. “It still is. Cuts down on the paperwork and the need for jail space. The simple fact is if we didn’t do it, nobody would ever be held accountable. Even now we will continue to operate that way. People will soon figure out they are better off dealing with the Royal Navy ships than with us. If you had stopped for Cobalt, those three crewmembers would still be alive, and your ship would not have been damaged by gunfire. Our ships are paired up with the Royal Navy while out on patrol. If you don’t want them, you get us. Word will get around and ships will heave to when the Royal Navy comes calling because they don’t want to see us a few hours later.”

  Hawkins went on. “Anyway, the worst-case scenario is no longer possible. Ringo didn’t kill you then and won’t sneak in here to kill you now. The second worst scenario is still in play. The Aeonian Conglomerate decides they don’t want to risk you spilling your guts in an open court, and they try to kill you.”

  “Why would they do that? My officers and crew know what I know. Can’t kill everyone.”

  Rafe shook his head. “I know you have been here in the Badlands almost two years, but you have been sheltered. You spent most of your time on your ship and dealing with the lower level corporate types in nice clothes. You have never met the powerful people in charge of various enterprises here in the Badlands. These people got to the top by being totally ruthless. They always work for their own goals and are quite willing to sacrifice others to achieve them. They are largely above the law, and they like that freedom. They will not hesitate to have you killed to guard their own interests. You were an asset as a captain. Now you are a potential liability. They don’t like liabilities, potential or otherwise. If they come to the conclusion you know a lot and are likely to talk about it, you’re in trouble. Even if some of them think you don’t know enough to hurt them, the majority opinion will be that it is better to be safe than sorry. The majority opinion will win the discussion about you. No reason to think otherwise. They will move against you.

  “The fact that your ship has been altered to carry slaves and your second officer talking about being on four slave runs tells me your ship is part of a regular pipeline. I suspect you’re the only one who knows the details on how it works and the identities of the conglomerate people involved. The company officials would keep the people who know those types of details limited to a tidy little group. You are probably the only one from your ship to attend meetings or meet with AC people. Your officers and men can testify that there had been slaves on their ship but not who organized it or who benefitted. Only you can do that. Plus, killing you will be a warning to your crew and the crews on other company ships outfitted like yours. Also, after killing you, the conglomerate will try to pin this whole affair on you. With your ship being modified that would be a tough sell, but they will try it. If nothing else, it muddies the waters. Regardless of the success of that tactic, you would be too dead to argue the point.”

  Yardley didn’t want to believe her employers would do that, but she had to agree it made sense. She still wouldn’t sell anyone out. She had been a good corporate ship captain for years and felt her superiors k
new that. She would keep her mouth shut, and they would work to get her back. She hoped.

  She tried to minimize her crime. “There must be a couple hundred slave ships out there at any given time. My trial won’t be that big a newsworthy event, especially if Measure 200 is used to catch and prosecute more people. I will be a one-day celebrity. The AC will hardly notice and won’t even comment on it. The interest of all the spectators will quickly fade as newer stories grab their attention.”

  Raferty shook his head. “No. Again, the fake bulkhead gives you away. That’s the story. A big conglomerate ship configured to run slaves on a regular basis. That story won’t die in a day. Lots of angles to it with the biggest one being how all the huge corporations are screwing everyone. The media loves pushing the idea that the big corporations aren’t happy just to screw people legally, they do it illegally too. The media will push it for more than one day.

  “I’ve been chasing slavers for years. Caught dozens. The majority of them aren’t very good at it. They get into slave running because they are desperate and need money. It tends to be an ad hoc plan with little thought and no preparation. Ships aren’t modified. I’ve stopped a couple of ships where the future slaves didn’t even know they were slaves. They were sitting in the cargo bays calmly waiting to go to new jobs, school opportunities, and other BS promises they had been given by the slaver. The slavers depend on big space-little ship to protect them. They know the odds favor them getting through so that tends to be their plan. Trust the odds. Usually works. After they get some money saved up and bills paid off, they stop doing it.

  “I have run into only two ships that had been greatly modified for slave running. One was a full-fledged slaver. It was a small ship but carried nothing but slaves. The two cargo bays were turned into jails with built-in toilets and slots to shove in food. All sorts of mods like that. I was just starting out as a pirate captain. There wasn’t even a Pirate Flotilla One yet. I had Bandit and Killian O’Hare had Outlaw. That was it. I met a sailor in a port and she told me about the ship. I knew the slaver would never heave to in space. No way could the crew hide what was going on, so they would never stop and allow their ship to be boarded. They would keep running knowing their ship wouldn’t be fired on for fear of killing the slaves. I waited until she was in port between runs. Then O’Hare and I lead a party on to the ship and killed all the crewmembers that were onboard. We stole the ship and sold it for scrap. Never regretted it.

  “The other time was a set up just like aboard Tristan. Secret compartment slightly bigger than yours. Well-built and well hidden. My people only found it because the slaves were being starved and when they heard what they thought were crewmembers outside the compartment, they started making a racket despite being told not to. They were desperate. If the crew had fed and watered them, they probably would have been quiet, and we never would have found them. Eighty slaves crammed in there. I immediately executed the captain and his first officer in their own cargo bay. Never regretted that either.

  “I let the amateurs live. I take them or have them take themselves to the nearest port and let the law deal with it even though I know not much will happen. The fact that they know they are in our facial identification database discourages repeat offenders. They also know that after being caught once, we will stop their ship every time we come across her, and if we catch them running slaves a second time, it is all over for them. Everyone dies. Makes people look for other cargo to carry.” He paused and shifted forward to put his elbows on the table and lean toward Yardley. He gave her a cold stare while speaking with a low voice. “You’re a professional slave runner. Professional slave runners with cleverly modified corporation-owned ships are actually a rarity here. That is why this story won’t die, and that is also why there is no deal coming for you. I wanted to tell you that personally so you can make the adjustment.

  “You being a professional is also why I think the Aeonian Conglomerate will try to hit you. We’re still putting together your ship’s schedule since you’ve been in command, but it is already clear from what we have so far that you have made several slave runs in your ship. Without slave pickups and drops, your schedule makes no sense at all. Lots of long trips for very little cargo. One time you went halfway across the Cinnamon System to pick up a load of iron that would fill only half of a cargo bay. Nobody does that. No profit doing it. You were picking up or dropping off slaves as well as the iron. Slaves were your big money cargo, so all your movements were tied to that. All your other cargo was just for fun and to provide cover. When all this comes out at your trial, the AC is going to look really bad, and they won’t like it. I don’t know the details of your situation, but I do know you’re in deep. You know too much and once you figure out there is no magic rescue coming, the AC will think you will talk, and they will probably move to counter that. That should be your biggest concern. It has been nine standard days since your ship was taken. The AC learned all the details within a couple of days. That gave them plenty of time to put a plan into motion. I suspect the decision to kill you has already been made, and they are enacting the plan now. I would bet a hit team is already on its way here. There is going to be a target on you in the next couple of days, and it won’t be off of you until we catch them or they kill you.”

  Rafe leaned toward Yardley and looked her in the eye. “I’ve been in the Badlands all my adult life. I have seen countless situations where people let their hope override concrete evidence, obvious trends, and common sense. I have yet to see hope stop bad guys from killing, keep people from dying, or halt an incoming missile attack. Your entire response to your situation is hope. You’re hoping to go back to the Aurora Empire. You’re hoping for a great lawyer. You’re hoping that the AC will save a loyal employee who was doing company business when she was caught. Hope is not a viable plan in this case or any other case here in the Badlands. It isn’t going to work for you and might make you dead. You need to develop a course of action beyond hope.”

  Hawkins rose to leave, but Yardley had one last comment on the subject. “Lord Douglas Cunningham’s family founded the AC and owned it for over one hundred standard years. I have a difficult time believing Lord Cunningham or any of his people would order an assassination attempt on me. They aren’t hardened criminals.”

  Hawkins stopped and looked down at her. He laughed once. “Why is that so difficult for you to envision? He ordered a hit on me, and this was after I completed a very successful secret mission for him deep in OrCon territory. He used the Royal Navy to do it. They came close.” He continued to speak in a low voice as her face registered surprise. “You think that since these people have titles, money, and dress nice that these things somehow define their character. They actually mean nothing in that regard. You don’t know those people at all. Trust me on that.” He turned to leave but then paused and turned back to her. “Come to think of it, I’ve got a title, money, have several business concerns, and I can dress up too when necessary. Do you think I wouldn’t kill you if the circumstances required it? They are just like me, only I’m more open about it, and I do my own killing.”

  Yardley stood up. “If you are so concerned about me, why don’t you just move me to one of the Royal Navy ships or to one of your ships?”

  Hawkins gave her a cold smile. “Quite frankly, I’m not that concerned about you. You are only useful to me if you talk. If you don’t talk, I don’t much give a damn if the AC gets you or not. If they do get you, maybe we capture some of the hit team, and we get some information from them. It would also save us the trouble of trying you.” His smile widened. “See, some good would come of it. I always try to stay positive in these situations.”

  He turned and walked out the door. The deputy waiting outside the room now moved into the doorway to take her back to jail.

  Chapter 5

  Raferty Hawkins returned to the town jail and talked with Greg Paulsen before taking an air car to the Royal Navy surface base. The base was more imagination than actual build
ings, but construction was proceeding on several structures, and progress was clearly visible. As the base became more of a reality, the Aurora Empire commitment became more real to the natives on Agra 2 and to the other people throughout the system. Local contractors were doing most of the surface base work under the supervision of dozens of Royal Marine Corps construction personnel. The construction work and money were greatly appreciated by the locals and had won over many skeptics. The Royal Navy was becoming a good neighbor to these people.

  Hawkins parked the air car outside a warehouse serving as the temporary base headquarters. He entered the building and went on to the office of Captain Lisa Cassidy, commander of the Royal Navy Badlands Squadron and Royal Navy Base Agra 2. She was sitting at her desk furiously stabbing at her computer. Three screens floated around her and she was clearly battling a tide of administration work, and it looked like the tide was going to win.

  Noticing Rafe, Cassidy paused and smiled at him. She motioned to a chair in front of her desk, and Hawkins took a seat as Lisa leaned back in her chair.

  “Congratulations on your first-month anniversary here in the Badlands. How’s life?” Hawkins asked.

  “Lots of little spats and arguments but nothing major. How is the prisoner?”

  Raferty shook his head. “She is figuring out she has many challenges ahead, no friends, and maybe a few enemies. I tried to impress on her that hoping and wishing were not good strategies given her situation. Not sure how successful I was.”

  Cassidy shook her head slightly. “She needs to break that code if she wants to live. The AC probably hasn’t granted many wishes or fulfilled many hopes lately. We’ll get some lawyers over to her and see if we can move this along. People need to see justice is swift if Measure 200 is going to be effective.” Rafe nodded in agreement as Cassidy continued. “If she opts for a judge trial that works for me. If she wants a trial by jury, I’ll use some of my officers off the other ships and a few of the officers from the construction battalion. I won’t use anybody from my ship, so I can’t be accused of having undue influence over the jury. I won’t use a civilian jury although the admiralty rules allow it under certain circumstances. I think the civilians would destroy her. I promise to pick a good officer to prosecute the case. As the first case under Measure 200, I want this to be beyond reproach.” Lisa paused now and looked at the pirate captain. “You think the AC will try to kill her?”